The Renters’ Rights Bill Becomes Law

• The tenants must be full-time students; and

• Tenants must be notified in writing before the tenancy begins that possession will be sought under the new possession Ground 4A; and

• The tenancy must terminate between 1 June and 30 September, to align with the traditional academic calendar; and

• The landlord must intend to let the property to new students for the next academic period.

It should be noted that students will benefit from the reform allowing them to terminate their tenancies with 2 months’ notice before expiry of the fixed term.

Although students may welcome this newfound flexibility, landlords may find themselves in the position of having empty student accommodation with little market interest until the following academic year.

Simplified rent review process

Landlords will be able to propose rent increases only once per year according to the market rate by serving a section 13 notice with at least 2 months’ notice. Whilst this might operate as a brake on rental inflation, this may be eclipsed if there by reduction in supply if landlords leave the market.

This ability to increase rent is subject to the tenant’s right to challenge the rent increase as exceeding the market rate through the First-tier Tribunal, which they will be motivated to do as the new rent would only apply from the date of determination – i.e. if challenged, they would not pay the higher rent until sanctioned by the Tribunal.

New ‘Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman Service’ and ‘Private Rented Sector Database’

The government will introduce a landlord ombudsman service and an online database, both of which all private residential landlords will be required to join to improve transparency and accountability across the private rented sector. Tenants will be able to report landlords’ misconduct, raise complaints and seek enforcement of legal duties.

New fines for non-compliance are significant and may be actively enforced by councils funded by these receipts.

Right to Keep Pets

Tenants will now have the statutory right to request to keep a pet. Landlords cannot refuse without giving a valid reason in writing – for example, that their head lease prohibits keeping pets. The right can also not be circumvented by placing a prohibitory clause in the lease agreement.

It was noted in our previous article that the Lords suggested landlords should be able to take three months’ rent as a deposit for any damage caused by a tenant’s pet; this amendment was rejected by the Commons, meaning that landlords cannot require the tenant to take out insurance or pay an additional deposit to cover pet-related damage. In the Commons’ view, ‘the usual’s tenant’s deposit can cover pet damage, so a specific additional deposit is unnecessary’. This means that landlords will not be receiving extra funds to cover additional damage caused by pets.

Pre-Tenancy Advance Rent Capped

Landlords and agents are banned from requesting or encouraging payments before a tenancy agreement has been signed, with fines as the penalty for non-compliance.

Once the tenancy agreement is signed, landlords can demand no more than one month’s rent in advance of the rent period commencing.
As noted in our last article on the Bill, tenants who might be considered ‘risky’ by landlords — for instance, international students or short-term workers — have often secured accommodation by offering 6 months’ rent in advance. How such concerns might be resolved going forward is unclear. .

Decent Homes Standard (DSH) and Awaab’s Law

The DSH and Awaab’s Law, both of which already apply to social housing, will be extended to the private rental sector. When in force, this will require private landlords to ensure that their properties meet the statutory minimum quality and must take action on any reported health and safety hazards within strict time limits.

This summer, the government held a consultation on proposed reforms to the DSH ahead of the new Renters’ Rights Act 2025 becoming law. In the consultation, it was proposed that the extension of DSH to private rentals would not take effect until 2035-2037 – accordingly, landlords should sit tight until further updates.

Ban on Rental Bidding Wars

Rental bidding wars will be banned; landlords and letting agents must advertise a fixed market rent and cannot encourage potential tenants to offer higher in the hopes of securing the tenancy or winning out other tenants.

They cannot even accept higher offers than the advertised rent unless they re-market the property at that higher figure. Once implemented, this will be a significant shift in commercial practice for landlords and their letting agents to adjust to.

What Next?

With the new reforms now promoted to the status of primary legislation, changes to the private rental sector can be anticipated – but not immediately.

Sections 144(1)-(2) of the Act empowers the Secretary of State to implement its provisions by regulations at any time. When this might happen is not yet clear, although the government indicated earlier this week that “in the coming weeks, ministers will outline how the reforms will be rolled out”.

Although the abolition of ASTs is speculated by commentators to be the first reform to be brought into force, the government has not confirmed this.

Whether these reforms will bring about a reduction in homes available on the private rental market remains to be seen.
 
Mark Vinall, Partner, Ashley Wilson Solicitors LLP