Landlord Tenancy Renewals Guide 2026 — Statutory Periodic, Contractual Renewal, RRA 2025 Impact and Deposit Re-Protection

Statutory periodic tenancy — how it arises and what changes

The statutory periodic tenancy is the default position at the end of a fixed-term AST where no new agreement is entered into:

• Automatic creation and terms of the statutory periodic tenancy: Under HA 1988 s.5(2), where an AST comes to an end (by effluxion of time — i.e., the fixed period expires) and neither the landlord nor the tenant serves a valid termination notice, a statutory periodic tenancy automatically arises. The statutory periodic tenancy: (a) is created by operation of law — no agreement, deed, or document is required; (b) has the same terms as the original fixed-term tenancy, except terms that are inconsistent with a periodic tenancy (e.g., a fixed rent-free period that was specific to the fixed term); (c) has a rent period matching the original rent payment period — monthly if the original tenancy required monthly rent; weekly if weekly; (d) can be ended by the landlord with a valid ground (under the pre-RRA 2025 regime, section 21 notice with 2 months' notice, or section 8 notice); under the RRA 2025 regime (from 1 May 2026), only via statutory grounds; (e) can be ended by the tenant by giving one complete rent period's notice (typically 1 month) in writing. Compliance on statutory periodic tenancy: (a) deposit re-protection: not required. The Deregulation Act 2015 s.30 confirms that the original deposit protection and prescribed information service at the start of the fixed-term tenancy continue to satisfy the HA 2004 s.213 obligations for the duration of the statutory periodic tenancy — no fresh deposit obligation arises from the creation of the statutory periodic; this resolves the uncertainty created by Superstrike Ltd v Rodrigues [2013] which suggested re-protection was needed; (b) prescribed information: re-service of prescribed information is not required when a statutory periodic tenancy arises under the Deregulation Act 2015; however, many landlords and agents choose to re-serve for evidential clarity; (c) section 47/48 notices: remain valid (name and address of landlord; service address) unless the landlord's details have changed; (d) right to rent checks: not required again for a statutory periodic tenancy continuation — the check already carried out at the start of the original fixed-term tenancy remains sufficient
• Contractual renewal — new tenancy, new deposit obligations: A contractual renewal arises where the landlord and tenant agree a new tenancy at the end of the fixed term — whether as a new fixed-term AST (possible only pre-1 May 2026 in England; still available in NI) or as a new contractual periodic tenancy (a periodic tenancy from the outset, agreed in writing). The contractual renewal: (a) creates a NEW tenancy — it is not a continuation of the old fixed-term tenancy; (b) resets all compliance obligations that are triggered at the start of a new tenancy — including the deposit protection obligation; the prescribed information obligation; the section 47/48 notice obligations (confirm details are current); and any landlord compliance documentation that was served in relation to the original tenancy (e.g., the How to Rent guide, gas safety certificate, EPC — all must be up to date and re-served); (c) deposit: the landlord must re-protect the deposit in an authorised scheme within 30 days of the start of the new tenancy (or re-protect in a new scheme if the original scheme has changed) and must re-serve the prescribed information on all tenants and relevant persons within 30 days. Failure to re-protect and re-serve PI on a contractual renewal is a breach of HA 2004 s.213 — s.214 penalty risk of 1-3 times the deposit. RRA 2025 (England from 1 May 2026): contractual renewal as a new fixed-term AST is not possible from 1 May 2026. Any renewal of a tenancy in England after that date must be a periodic tenancy. In practice, what this means is: at the end of a fixed term (whether on an existing pre-1 May 2026 tenancy or otherwise), the tenancy automatically becomes periodic under the new RRA 2025 regime — there is no need to sign a new agreement and doing so creates unnecessary deposit re-protection obligations without adding any value. The sensible approach post-RRA 2025 is to let the tenancy roll into a periodic tenancy and only sign a new agreement if there has been a fundamental change to the tenancy terms (e.g., new tenant added; significant changes to rent or obligations)

Rent increases on renewal, right to rent, RRA 2025 and devolved positions

How landlords raise rents at renewal and how the RRA 2025 changes the rent increase mechanism — alongside the position in Scotland, Wales and NI:

• Rent increases at renewal — s.13 process and contractual review: Statutory periodic tenancy — rent increases via HA 1988 s.13: on a statutory periodic tenancy, the landlord cannot unilaterally raise the rent mid-tenancy without following the formal s.13 process (or if there is a contractual rent review clause — but such a clause cannot be inserted into a statutory periodic tenancy since its terms are fixed from the original agreement). The s.13 process: serve a Form 4 (Landlord's Notice Proposing a New Rent) on the tenant; the notice must give the tenant at least one month's notice (for a monthly periodic tenancy) or one complete rent period's notice; the new rent must be a market rent (not an artificial increase). The tenant has the right to challenge the proposed new rent at the First-tier Tribunal Property Chamber (formerly the Residential Property Tribunal) — the Tribunal will determine the market rent at the date of the notice. This right to challenge exists until the date the new rent takes effect. Contractual renewal — rent increase by agreement: if a new tenancy agreement is signed at renewal, the new rent is whatever the landlord and tenant agree — subject to the requirement that it represents a market rate. There is no statutory challenge mechanism for a rent agreed between the parties at the time of signing a new agreement (both parties are free to agree any market rate rent). RRA 2025 rent increase regime (England from 1 May 2026): the RRA 2025 replaces the s.13 process with a new mechanism. Under the new regime: (a) landlords can increase the rent once in any 12-month period; (b) the increase must be to the market rent and proposed via a statutory notice; (c) the tenant can challenge any proposed increase at the First-tier Tribunal; (d) contractual rent review clauses that permit increases above market rent are unenforceable; (e) the 12-month minimum between increases provides tenants with greater stability than the old s.13 mechanism (which only required one period's notice). Landlords planning rental increases in England should be aware of the new timeline: from 1 May 2026, the new regime applies to all ASTs regardless of when they were granted
• Right to rent checks, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland: Right to rent re-checks at renewal (England): right to rent checks under the Immigration Act 2014 are required at the start of each tenancy. For a statutory periodic tenancy continuation, no fresh right to rent check is required — the check carried out at the start of the original fixed-term tenancy remains sufficient for the statutory periodic continuation. For a contractual renewal (new tenancy agreement), the landlord should carry out a fresh right to rent check for all adult occupants — particularly important where time-limited leave to remain has expired or is due to expire. Scotland: the Private Residential Tenancy (PRT) under the PH(T)(S)A 2016 is open-ended and periodic from the outset — there is no fixed-term and no renewal process in Scotland. A PRT tenancy continues indefinitely until the tenant gives at least 28 days' written notice to end, or the landlord uses one of the 18 statutory grounds for repossession. Rent increases on a Scottish PRT: the landlord must give the tenant 3 months' written notice of any proposed rent increase using the statutory notice (AT2); the tenant can challenge the proposed increase at the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber). Wales: all new occupation contracts under the RHWA 2016 (from 1 December 2022) are periodic from the outset — there are no fixed-term occupation contracts to renew. The occupation contract continues on a periodic basis; the landlord can propose a rent increase via the contractual mechanism (contract-holder has the right to refer to the Rent Assessment Committee or Rent Officer). Northern Ireland: fixed-term tenancies remain available under the Private Tenancies (NI) Order 2006; a fixed-term tenancy in NI can be renewed as a further fixed-term or allowed to become periodic; the landlord must check that the tenancy meets NI minimum notice requirements

Frequently asked questions