If you let property in England, 2026 is the year the ground shifted beneath you. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 is the biggest change to private renting in decades, and it doesn’t arrive all at once. It rolls out in phases over several years, which means getting to grips with it isn’t a one-off task. This post covers what the Act is, why it matters, and what’s coming next, so you can see the whole road rather than just the bend in front of you.
What the Renters’ Rights Act actually is
The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent in October 2025, and its first major reforms came into force on 1 May 2026. In short, it rewrites the rules for how tenancies work, how they end, and how landlords and tenants deal with each other.
The headline changes from that first phase include the abolition of Section 21 “no-fault” evictions, the conversion of assured shorthold tenancies into periodic tenancies that roll on rather than running for a fixed term, new rules on how and how often rent can be increased, and a set of new tenant protections that switched on at the same time. If you want to raise the rent now, for example, you follow a defined process and give the tenant the chance to challenge an increase they think is unfair.
Why it matters to you
Two reasons, really.
The first is that the rules are genuinely different now, and getting them wrong carries real consequences, from invalid notices that cost you months to civil penalties. For a landlord who’s used to the old way of doing things, “how I’ve always done it” is no longer a safe guide.
The second is timing. Because the Act comes in phases, there’s no single moment where you can sit down, learn everything, and be finished. New obligations keep arriving. That’s exactly why staying informed, and having somewhere to check what applies to you, matters more than it used to.
What’s still to come
This is the part many landlords miss. May 2026 was Phase 1, not the finish line. Here’s the road ahead, based on the government’s published implementation roadmap.
In late 2026, the PRS database begins. The big one on the horizon. The government will start rolling out a national Private Rented Sector Database. Signing up to the PRS database will be mandatory for all PRS landlords, and they will be required to pay an annual fee confirmed closer to launch. The rollout is regional, so some landlords will face the registration requirement before others, and you’ll be given advance notice before it reaches your area. Expect to register each property and provide key information about it, likely including compliance documents such as your gas safety certificate, EPC and EICR. The database will roll out in phases by region.
Worth knowing: you’ll need to be registered on the database if you want to use certain grounds for possession under Section 8, so this isn’t just admin; it’s tied to your ability to regain your property.
2027 – expansion and enforcement. As the database rollout widens, registration becomes the norm and councils gain clearer visibility to target enforcement. The reforms also begin extending to the social rented sector around this time.
2028 – the Landlord Ombudsman. Mandatory sign-up to a new PRS Landlord Ombudsman is expected to come into effect. Every private landlord in England will have to join this redress scheme, which gives tenants a route to resolve complaints without going to court. The launch happens after the database is up and running, and the 2028 date is the part most likely to move, so treat it as a planning assumption rather than a fixed deadline.
2035 and beyond – Decent Homes Standard and Awaab’s Law. Further down the line, the Decent Homes Standard is expected to apply to private rentals from 2035 at the earliest, alongside the extension of Awaab’s Law, which sets strict timescales for dealing with hazards like damp and mould, to the private sector, with the details still subject to consultation.
What this means in practice
You don’t need to do everything at once, but you do need to keep track, because the obligations keep coming and the deadlines are real. The landlords who cope best won’t be the ones who memorise the Act. They’ll be the ones who stay organised and know where to look when something changes.
That’s the whole reason Stivora exists: to make it simpler to know what applies to your property and stay ahead of what’s next, without trawling government pages yourself. We’ll be covering each of these phases in more detail as they approach, the PRS Database especially, since it’s the next big one.
This post is general guidance, not legal advice, and reflects the position as of June 6, 2026. Timelines for the later phases are set by government and can change. Always check GOV.UK for the current position, and take professional advice for your own situation.