New landlord rules 2026: every date and what is next

New landlord rules 2026: the full timeline

The new landlord rules arrive in three phases. Phase one, the tenancy reforms, has been in force since 1 May 2026. Phase two, the landlord database and the ombudsman, starts on 15 December 2026. Phase three, higher property standards, has dates running to 2035. This table lists each rule for private landlords in England with the date the government has given.

Dates marked as expected or not announced come straight from the government’s own wording. Where no date has been published, we say so rather than guess.

Sources: GOV.UK: implementing the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, the government’s roadmap · GOV.UK: Renters’ Rights Act becomes law (27 October 2025) · GOV.UK: The Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet 2026 · Housing Hub: get ready for the ‘Register your rental property’ service · GOV.UK: reformed Decent Homes Standard, government response · GOV.UK: energy performance of privately rented homes, government response

The new renters’ rights already in force since 1 May 2026

Everything in phase one applies now, to old and new tenancies alike. You cannot serve a section 21 notice. To end a tenancy you need a legal ground and a section 8 notice. Fixed terms no longer exist for assured tenancies, so every tenancy rolls on until someone ends it.

Rent can go up once a year, through the section 13 process with Form 4A and at least two months’ notice. When you advertise, you must state one specific rent and cannot ask for or accept more. Before the tenancy agreement is signed you cannot take rent at all, and afterwards you can ask for one month at most before the tenancy starts. See rent in advance and rental bidding rules.

You must not treat an applicant less favourably because they have children or receive benefits. A tenant can ask in writing to keep a pet and you have 28 days to answer: see can landlords refuse pets. Local councils enforce these rules and can issue civil penalties.

Paperwork changed too. Before a new tenancy is agreed you must give the tenant written information about its key terms. For tenancies that already existed with written terms, each named tenant had to receive the government’s Information Sheet by 31 May 2026, as a printed copy or as the PDF attached to an email or text. GOV.UK says a landlord who did not give it could be fined up to £7,000.

Sources: GOV.UK: implementing the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, the government’s roadmap

Who the new renters’ rights apply to

The tenancy reforms apply to private tenancies in England that are assured tenancies, which covers most ordinary lets where the tenant has the property as their main home and the landlord lives somewhere else. The Information Sheet tells tenants that if they live in social housing or are a lodger, the new rules will not usually apply to them.

The rules apply automatically. The Information Sheet says a landlord cannot put anything into a tenancy agreement to change or disapply them, and that they apply even if the agreement is never updated. So an old agreement that still mentions a fixed term, a section 21 notice or a rent review clause does not give you those options back.

Some protections are timed from the start of each tenancy. The sheet explains that a tenant cannot be required to leave in the first 12 months on the grounds that the landlord intends to sell or that the landlord or a family member wants to move in. Landlords of student lets have their own ground, with four months’ notice ending between 1 June and 30 September. One caution: if you served a valid section 8 or section 21 notice before 1 May 2026, that tenancy may have stayed under the old rules while the notice ran. Get advice on any tenancy in that position.

Sources: GOV.UK: The Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet 2026

What to check on each tenancy now

If you have not reviewed your tenancies since May, do it property by property. These are record-keeping steps, not a full legal review.

• Confirm each named tenant on a pre-May tenancy was given the Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet by 31 May 2026, as a printed copy or an attached PDF.
• For any tenancy agreed since 1 May 2026, check the written information about the key terms was given before the tenancy was agreed.
• Stop using old assured shorthold templates, section 21 forms and rent review clauses.
• Note the date of the last rent increase on each tenancy, so the next one is at least a year later.
• Check your adverts and your agent’s adverts state one rent figure and do not exclude families or people on benefits.
• Find your gas safety record, electrical report and EPC for each property. The registration service will ask for them.
• Put your region’s registration window in your diary.

Sources: GOV.UK: The Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet 2026 · Housing Hub: get ready for the ‘Register your rental property’ service

Landlord database: registration dates by region

Registration opens on 15 December 2026 in the West Midlands and then moves region by region. The government announced the dates on 9 September 2026. The service is called ‘Register your rental property’ and it is the public face of the Private Rented Sector Database created by the Act.

When your region is called, you have three months to sign up. Registering will be a legal requirement, and the government says you risk a fine if you do not. Its Housing Hub says all landlords will pay an annual fee of £65 to register a property, and that you will need your own details, the property address, the number of bedrooms, tenancy and rent details, and your gas safety, electrical safety and energy performance certificates.

The region is where the rented property is, so a landlord with homes in two regions has two windows. Our guide to the private rented sector database goes through the process.

The practical preparation is the same wherever you let. The service will ask for certificates, so a landlord with an expired gas safety record, an out-of-date electrical report or no valid EPC will have a problem to solve before registering. Check the dates on all three now, and book any inspection that is due, so that your registration window is spent registering and not chasing engineers.

Sources: GOV.UK: stronger protections and greater confidence for renters (9 September 2026) · Housing Hub: get ready for the ‘Register your rental property’ service

The landlord ombudsman: expected in 2028

There is no fixed start date yet. The government’s roadmap says it expects landlords to be required to join the Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman in 2028, once the Secretary of State is confident the service is ready. Before that, a scheme administrator has to be chosen, and the roadmap says this stage will happen at least 12 to 18 months before the service starts.

Membership will be mandatory for private landlords and funded by a charge on landlords, with the amount to be confirmed closer to launch. The service will let tenants bring complaints without going to court. You do not need to do anything today. Our guide to the private landlord ombudsman is updated as dates are confirmed.

Sources: GOV.UK: implementing the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, the government’s roadmap

Decent Homes Standard, Awaab’s Law and EPC C

The Decent Homes Standard will apply to private rented homes from 2035. The government confirmed the date in its consultation response of 28 January 2026, choosing 2035 over 2037. Local councils will enforce it in the private rented sector. See the Decent Homes Standard guide.

Awaab’s Law sets legal time limits for landlords to deal with serious hazards such as damp and mould. It applies to social housing today, not to private landlords. The Renters’ Rights Act contains the power to extend it to private rented homes, and the government has said it will consult on how to do that. No start date has been announced. Your existing repair and safety duties still apply in the meantime. Our guide to Awaab’s Law for private landlords tracks the consultation.

Separately from the Act, the government has confirmed that private rented homes in England and Wales must reach an energy rating of EPC C by 1 October 2030, for all tenancies, with landlords expected to spend up to £10,000 per property. A home rated C or above on an EPC issued before 1 October 2029 will count as compliant until that EPC expires. The regulations have not been made yet: the government aims to bring them into force in 2027. See EPC rules for landlords.

Sources: GOV.UK: reformed Decent Homes Standard, government response · GOV.UK: implementing the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, the government’s roadmap · GOV.UK: energy performance of privately rented homes, government response

When will the Renters Reform Bill become law?

It already has, under a different name. The Renters (Reform) Bill was introduced to Parliament on 17 May 2023 by the previous government and did not complete its passage before the July 2024 general election. The current government introduced a new bill, the Renters’ Rights Bill, which received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025 and became the Renters’ Rights Act 2025.

So if you are searching for the renters reform bill, renters reform or the new renters’ rights, the law you need is the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. It applies to England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own tenancy laws.

Becoming law and coming into force are different things. The Act became law in October 2025, but most of what it changes for landlords started on 1 May 2026, and the rest follows the timeline above.

Sources: GOV.UK: Renters’ Rights Act becomes law (27 October 2025) · GOV.UK: implementing the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, the government’s roadmap

Common questions