Government Publishes Roadmap for Implementing the Renters’ Rights Act 2025

• Limited rent increases – landlords will only be able to increase rent once every 12 months, following prescribed notice requirements in section 13 and giving at least 2 months’ notice;

• Prohibition of rental bidding wars and advance rent – landlords and agents will not be permitted to invite, request, or accept offers above the advertised rent.

• Restriction on advance rent – landlords and agents will also be banned from taking more than one month’s rent in advance after an agreement has been signed, and also from taking any rent at all before the tenancy agreement is signed;

• No discrimination against families or benefit claimants – the Act makes it unlawful to do anything that would make a tenant less likely to rent a property, or to refuse them from renting it at all, because they have children or receive benefits. Examples include withholding information about a property, refusing to allow them to view it or refusing to grant a tenancy altogether.

Tenants’ Right to Request a Pet

Also to be implemented from 1 May 2026 onwards is the tenant’s right to request to keep a pet at their rented property, which landlords will have very limited grounds to refuse. Such a request must be responded to within 28 days.

Increased Enforcement Powers

Local authorities will receive new investigatory powers, wider enforcement duties, and a revised penalty regime in phase 1.

On 27 December 2025, local councils will be empowered to inspect properties, demand documents and access third-party data for the purpose of enforcing landlords’ new and existing duties.

From 1 May 2026, maximum civil penalties will change:

• £7,000 for standard breaches and up to £40,000 for serious or repeat offences (increased from previous maximum civil penalty of £30,000);

• Rent Repayment Orders, which currently enable tenants to recover up to twelve months’ rent from their landlord where the latter has committed a qualifying housing offence, will be expanded. Tenants will be able to recover up to two years’ rent and to seek such payment from their superior landlord.

Local authorities will have a new duty to report on enforcement activity, meaning that landlords and tenants might expect more active enforcement than has typically been seen in the sector.

Phase Two – Late 2026

A new PRS Database will be introduced in late 2026, following which every landlord must register themselves and each rental property.

A tenancy can only be lawfully granted if the landlord and property are registered. Landlords must pay an annual fee for this database and provide information including:

• Landlord’s contact details;

• Property details e.g. full address, type (flat/house), number of bedrooms, number of households/residents and whether occupied and furnished etc;

• Safety information – gas, electric and EPCs.

Once landlords have registered themselves and their properties onto the database (most likely in 2027), it will then be launched for public access and data sharing.

Once the PRS Database has been established, the new PRS Landlord Ombudsman will be introduced to provide a free and independent redress mechanism for tenants to resolve property and management disputes. The MHCLG predicts that this service will be ready in 2028.

Signing up to the Ombudsman scheme will be mandatory for all PRS landlords, who must also fund it through a ‘fair and proportionate charging model’ (details of which will be confirmed by the MHCLG at a later date).

Phase Three – dates tbc

In phase three, a statutory ‘Decent Homes Standard’ will be introduced for the PRS. Future secondary legislation (for which consultation has already taken place) will set a minimum housing quality standard and requiring rented properties to be safe, secure, and well-maintained.

Awaab’s Law will also be extended from the social housing sector to the PRS to introduce strict, legally enforceable repair response times for serious hazards affecting health.

Though the dates for phase three are still to be confirmed, the government has predicted that it should take place in 2035 or 2037.

Landlords’ Responsibility to Inform Tenants about Changes

The government has clarified the positions of new and existing tenancies from 1 May 2026 onwards.

• for new PRS tenancies created on or after 1 May 2026, landlords must provide prescribed written information to incoming tenants. The first draft of secondary legislation to implement these new information requirements will be issued in January 2026;

• for existing written tenancies, landlords need not draft new tenancy agreements to reflect the new laws but must supply tenants with an official ‘Information Sheet’ by 31 May 2026. The Information Sheet will be published online in May 2026;

• for existing verbal tenancies, landlords must provide a written summary of the tenancy’s main terms by 31 May 2026.

Next Steps

The MHCLG confirmed that further guidance on the changes will follow for landlords and tenants. Such guidance for landlords has already been published on the government’s website. Tenants can expect tailored guidance in April of next year, shortly before the first of the reforms are set to launch in May.

The broader impact of the Act’s significant reforms on the residential rental sector will only become fully apparent as the changes begin to take effect over the coming year.

Mark Vinall, Partner, Ashley Wilson Solicitors LLP