Solving renters’ rights conundrums

Question

I am a letting agent managing a portfolio of existing assured shorthold tenancies on behalf of a number of landlords and I’m getting ready for the implementation of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. What steps should I be taking?

Answer

There are several steps you can take during May 2026, including service of a prescribed form information sheet on existing tenants and reviewing your processes for granting tenancies.

Explanation

The government has recently published some secondary legislation accompanying the 2025 Act which provides details of some of the prescribed form documents which must be given to tenants.

For existing ASTs and assured tenancies, the landlord or you (as agent on the landlord’s behalf) will need to serve “The Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet 2026” in the prescribed form, as produced by the secretary of state, on the tenants between 1 and 31 May 2026. This has been published on the website of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Your local authority can impose fines on both you and the landlord for a failure to comply.

It is also recommended to review your processes around the grant of tenancies and management of those tenancies. Assured tenancies granted from and including 1 May 2026 cannot provide for a fixed term and will be periodic.

They must include a written statement of terms and the Schedule to The Assured Tenancies (Private Rented Sector) (Written Statement of Terms etc and Information Sheet) (England) Regulations 2026, and detail the minimum written statement of terms, which must be included.

These include, but are not limited to, information such as the rent and payment dates, details of the statutory process for increasing rent under section 13 of the Housing Act 1988 and the ways in which the landlord can obtain an order for possession by serving a section 8 notice and establishing a ground of possession. Other terms may be included in the assured tenancy in the usual way beyond the minimum written statement of terms.

From 1 May 2026, you will need to use new prescribed forms including a new form section 8 notice called a Form 3A, published on the MHCLG website, and a new section 13 Notice of Increase of Rent (Form 1A). Further, if you have any existing ASTs of houses in multiple occupation let to full-time students, you may wish to check whether the landlord may wish to rely on the new ground 4A for possession.

This is available for landlords who intend to re-let the HMO property to full-time students and will serve a section 8 notice giving four months’ notice to expire from 1 June to 30 September in each year.  If so, they, or you on their behalf, will need to serve written notice of their intention between 1 and 31 May 2026 or else the landlord may not be able to rely on this ground in the future. This will also apply to tenancies which have been entered into by the parties but not yet commenced and there are also applicable transitional provisions here.

Question

I am a landlord of a two-bedroom flat currently let on an AST. I served a section 21 notice in March to terminate the AST because I want to sell the property in a few months’ time. The section 21 notice will expire at the start of June 2026. If the tenant doesn’t leave, do I need to serve a section 8 notice relying on the ground that I want to sell my property or can I issue possession proceedings?

Answer

Under the transitional provisions in the 2025 Act, provided your section 21 notice is valid, you will be able to issue possession proceedings as long as you send these to the court by 31 July 2026.

Explanation

Under the transitional provisions in paragraph 4 of Schedule 6 to the Renters’ Right 2025 Act, possession proceedings may be issued following the expiry of a section 21 notice which was served before 30 April 2026. This is subject to two conditions.

The first condition is that the section 21 notice has been validly served before 30 April 2026 and the second is that the landlord has asked the court to issue a claim form for possession within a specified period. The specified period set out in Schedule 6 is either six months, beginning with the date on which the section 21 notice was served, or alternatively, there is a long stop date of 31 July 2026 for any section 21 notice if the six-month period would expire after 31 July 2026.

Therefore, if the tenant does not vacate by the start of June when your section 21 notice expires, you then will be able to issue possession proceedings, but only so long as you send these to the County Court with the relevant court fee before 31 July 2026.

Laura Bushaway is a knowledge development lawyer in the real estate disputes team at Charles Russell Speechlys and Sophie Gibson is a barrister at Landmark Chambers. This article was first published in Estates Gazette on 5 May 2026.