Renters' Rights Act 2025, landlord templates and compliance checklist

What the Renters' Rights Act 2025 actually changes

The Act rewrites the Housing Act 1988. The headline changes for England are:

• Section 21 abolished. 'No-fault' possession notices can no longer be served. Possession must now be based on a statutory ground under the expanded Section 8.
• Periodic assured tenancies replace ASTs. Every tenancy becomes periodic from day one. Tenants can end the tenancy with two months' notice at any time.
• Expanded Section 8 grounds. New and amended grounds cover landlord sale, landlord/family moving in, repeated rent arrears, and anti-social behaviour.
• Section 13 is the only route for rent increases. Rent-review clauses, fixed escalators and contractual increases no longer bite.
• Private Landlord Database. Mandatory registration of every landlord and property on a government database, with civil penalties for non-compliance.
• PRS Ombudsman. A single redress scheme for tenants to bring complaints about private landlords.
• Decent Homes Standard + Awaab's Law. Both extended from the social rented sector into the private rented sector.
• Bidding wars + blanket bans. It becomes unlawful to ask for rent above the advertised amount, or to refuse tenants because they receive benefits or have children.

Commencement dates (live tracker)

Different parts of the RRA commence on different dates. Shipping an English tenancy template before the abolition of Section 21 would give you an invalid document. LetSafe UK tracks commencement regulations and marks any product whose regulation is not yet in force as 'Pre-order, ships on [date]'.

The critical date for most landlords is <strong>1 May 2026</strong>: the single implementation day for the abolition of Section 21, the move to periodic tenancies, and the prescribed written statement of terms. Our England flagship catalogue ships on or before that date.

The three documents every English landlord needs ready

You do not need the whole catalogue to be compliant. You need three core documents and the knowledge of when to use which.

• Periodic Assured Tenancy Agreement (LS-E-001). Replaces your existing AST on 1 May 2026. Periodic from day one, prescribed written statement built in, pet-request clause with the new reasonableness test.
• Section 8 Notice Pack (LS-E-010). All expanded grounds covered, rent arrears, anti-social behaviour, landlord sale, family moving in. Each with service instructions and the correct prescribed form for the ground.
• Section 13 Rent Increase Pack (LS-E-011). The only valid route to raise rent once fixed terms disappear. Includes the prescribed form, market-rent evidence template, and tribunal referral guidance.

The Information Sheet obligation — deadline 31 May 2026

From 1 May 2026, every landlord with an existing tenancy in England must serve the Government's prescribed Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet on each named tenant by 31 May 2026. This is a separate statutory obligation from issuing a new written statement of terms — both must be done.

The prescribed Information Sheet is a Government document published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. You must serve the document itself (as a physical copy or PDF attachment) — a link to GOV.UK does not satisfy the obligation. Failure carries a civil penalty of up to £7,000 per breach, assessed per tenant, imposed by the local housing authority without a court hearing.

• Deadline: 31 May 2026 for all existing tenancies as at 1 May 2026.
• New tenancies from 1 May 2026: serve at the start of the tenancy alongside the PAT agreement and How-to-Rent guide.
• Keep a proof-of-service record — the landlord bears the burden of proof if a tenant later disputes receipt.

How LetSafe UK keeps templates current

Every English template carries a 'Reviewed [date] against [commencement regulations]' footer. When a commencement regulation lands, we update the template and re-issue the PDF, existing customers re-download the current version from their account.

We track the commencement status of the RRA openly. Any SKU whose underlying regulation is not yet in force is marked Pre-order rather than shipped, so you never receive a template that would be invalid at the point of use.

Frequently asked questions