Renters Rights Act - Things to be aware of ahead of 1st May..2.0

Following up on last week's update, we wanted to provide further information on what is about to happen and some things to be aware of.

Tenant Notice Periods
From 1st May, tenants will be able to give two months’ notice at any point after moving into the property.

If one tenant in a joint tenancy serves notice, this will end the tenancy for all tenants.

If the remaining tenants wish to stay in the property, they would need to enter into a new tenancy agreement.

The notice should be in line with the rental period.

Student Properties

Landlords of student HMOs will be able to regain possession within the first 12 months by serving notice under Ground 4A, provided tenants have been pre-notified.

This allows the property to be recovered between 1st June and 30th September, in line with the academic year.

For 2026, due to the timing of the legislation, the notice period has been temporarily reduced to two months, which can be served between 1st May and 31st July.

Students may also choose to end their tenancies earlier than expected by giving two months’ notice after 1st May.

Rent Increases
Similar to current regulations, rent can only be increased once per year. This must be done by serving the tenant two months’ notice using a Section 13 notice.

The proposed rent must be in line with the market. Tenants can challenge the increase through a tribunal, which is free to use.

The tribunal will then decide whether the increase is fair based on market rent.

For managed clients, you may be able to protect yourself against delays in this process with a Rent Protection policy, which may cover the difference between the current and proposed rent during a dispute.

Please contact us on 01202 554470 to discuss this in more detail.

Rent Bidding
When marketing a property, landlords will not be able to accept offers above the advertised rent.
This effectively removes rental bidding wars, and ensures properties are let at the price they are marketed.