The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 Implementation Roadmap

The long-awaited reform of the Private Rented Sector, in the form of the Labour Government’s Renters’ Rights Act 2025, has now been given a roadmap for implementation following its receiving Royal Assent on 27 October 2025.

The Bill (now the Act) has faced its fair share of challenges and uncertainty, from its previous iteration (the Renters (Reform) Bill 2023) being scrapped upon the dissolution of Parliament, to the uncertainty following Angela Rayner’s unexpected resignation in September.

However, notwithstanding all of that, the Government has now announced its roadmap for implementation and has updated its associated guidance accordingly to try and help those impacted navigate their way through this historic period of change.

At Ellis Jones, we have already commented previously on the key changes brought in by the Act and what landlords need to know. However, it’s vitally important that Landlords and Lettings Agents act now in contemplation of implementation, to get ahead of what is to come.

Abolition of Section 21

The Act’s headline reform, being the complete abolition of fixed tenancies, Section 21 and ‘no-fault’ evictions, is now confirmed to be implemented with effect from 01 May 2026.

In practical terms, this means that any landlord who wishes to rely upon a Section 21 notice to obtain possession of a property must serve the Tenant with such a notice (which is fully compliant with the prescribed information and pre-conditions for service) by no later than 30 April 2026, for it to be capable of being relied upon for possession proceedings.

Landlords should note that it is not required for the Section 21 notice to expire before 01 May 2026, just that it be served before that date. Equally, possession proceedings can be issued after 01 May 2026 based on a notice served before that date, so longas the notice itself hasn’t lapsed due (namely, it is less than 6 months old by the time that proceedings are issued).

Put simply, if a landlord doesn’t serve a Section 21 notice on or before 30 April 2026, they will be forever permanently barred from relying upon Section 21 as a method of obtaining possession.

Reform of Section 8

In addition to the abolition of Section 21, the Act’s reform of Section 8 (removing some possession grounds, amending others, and adding some) will also take effect from 01 May 2026.

By way of a reminder, the key changes to Section 8 grounds will be as follows:

• Ground 1 will be amended to allow landlords to obtain possession to move themselves or their family into the Property, notwithstanding whether the property has ever been their family home (which is a requirement under the current legislation);
• Ground 8 (rent arrears) will be amended to increase the amount of arrears required from 2 months’ arrears, to 3 months, excluding universal credit – which will be a big blow for landlords facing poorly paying tenants; and
• New Ground 4A will be introduced to allow Student Landlords to obtain possession during the summer holidays.

Landlords should also remember that the minimum notice periods for a Section 8 notice will also go up (essentially double, across the board – from 2 weeks to 4 weeks, or from 2 months to 4 months) for the standard grounds.

If, therefore, a landlord has a tenant who is currently in arrears of 2 months but not yet 3 months, then the only way for that landlord to obtain possession under Ground 8 is to serve a Section 8 notice before the implementation date of 01 May 2026. After that point, the new grounds will apply.

Financial penalties and criminal offences

With the reform of Section 21 and Section 8 comes the addition of a vast swathe of civil financial penalties and criminal offences due to be available against landlords, lettings agents, and others involved in the Private Rented Sector, with effect from 01 May 2026.

From that date, it will be an offence and/or a relevant person will be liable for a civil financial penalty if they (inter alia):

• Fail to provide a written statement of terms to the tenant (a tenancy agreement);
• Purport to let on a fixed term;
• Purport/attempt to end a tenancy other than through an appropriate Section 8 notice;
• Attempt to rely on a Section 8 ground without a reasonable belief in that ground;
• Fail to state the rent on an advertisement; and
• Accept rent above the stated price.

It’s therefore absolutely critical that landlords and lettings agents take advice and are fully aware of their obligations (which from 01 May 2026 will carry criminal penalties or fines of up to £40,000 for breach) and have systems in place to protect themselves from accidental breach.

Private rented sector database and Ombudsman

The much-discussed PRS Database requirement is (apparently) due to be rolled out ‘from late 2026’, with the Ombudsman scheme subsequently implemented and mandated from 2028.

The proposal is first to have a staged roll-out of the database requirements (which have been confirmed to incur an annual registration fee, albeit that fee has not yet been specified) before implementing across England.

Whether the Government has the wherewithal and project management ability to implement such a database by the end of 2026 as planned remains to be seen.

Awaab’s law

By way of a small relief for landlords and lettings agents, the roadmap for Awaab’s law remains ‘TBC – subject to consultation’, and so the Decent Homes Standard is not yet set to make its way over to the Private Rented Sector from the Social Rented Sector. But it will, in time.

Next steps

01 May 2026 is closer than some anticipated, and so landlords and lettings agents should be taking steps now to:

1. Review tenancy agreements and make sure they comply post-01 May 2026;
2. Reviewing tenants’ positions and serving Section 21/Section 8 notices before the reforms are implemented to ensure opportunities are not lost; and
3. Understanding fully their obligations post-01 May 2026 to ensure no breaches occur and liability is minimised.

Our expert team at Ellis Jones has been a leading commentator on the Renters’ Rights Bill (as it was) from the outset, and its previous iteration, and our lawyers have a deep, thorough, and analytical understanding of the Act and its implications for landlords and lettings agents.

For more information, or to speak to one of our team please get in touch with our experts on 01202 525333 or by emailing resolution@ellisjones.co.uk.