Renters’ Rights Act Special

The Renters’ Rights Act came into force on the 1st May 2026, but major questions remain for property professionals.

In this Q&A special, hosts Richard and Lizzie answer the questions our audience are asking, including: whether fixed-term tenancies survive the transition, how the new possession grounds will work in practice, the impact on rent reviews and tribunal challenges, and whether the court system is realistically equipped to cope with the volume of disputes likely to follow.

Richard also explores the grey areas already causing concern across the sector, including pets in leasehold flats, mixed-use buildings, Airbnb arrangements, student accommodation exemptions, and whether landlords may respond by increasing asking rents.

Alongside legal analysis, the discussion considers the wider market sentiment emerging since the Act came into force, including concerns over supply, investor confidence, and the long-term consequences for the private rented sector.

This episode is essential listening for landlords, investors, managing agents, developers, surveyors, and property lawyers navigating one of the most significant reforms to land law in decades.

Training & Free Webinars for Property Professionals:

Would you like to keep up to date with the latest in real estate law? Davitt Jones Bould offers legal training tailored to your organisation’s needs, delivered in person across the UK or remotely. We also run free monthly webinars through for surveyors, solicitors, and property professionals across sectors. To sign up or learn more, visit our events page here or email djb.events@djblaw.co.uk for information and booking. 

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal or professional advice. No liability is accepted by Davitt Jones Bould for any reliance placed on its content.

Transcript

Lizzie Collin
Welcome back to Unpacking the Case. Today we're looking at one of the biggest shake-ups in the real estate market in years, the Renters Rights Act. Since the legislation came into force, the property sector has been flooded with questions and in some cases genuine concern about how these reforms will work in reality. At our recent webinar there were questions on everything from worries about court capacity and possession delays through to uncertainty around fixed term tenancies, rent review mechanisms, pets and mixed-use buildings. In this episode we're doing a full Q&A special using real questions being asked by our audience of property professionals. Hello, Richard.

Richard Snape
Hello, Lizzie. It's been a long time again.

Lizzie Collin
We are battling against technology today. It seems to be throwing everything it can at us to stop us from recording this podcast.

Richard Snape
But we won't be silenced. The public needs to know about the Renters Rights Act.

Lizzie Collin
Exactly. We certainly won't be silenced on the Renters Rights Act. We had a webinar earlier in the week, which was extremely popular, and we had over 200 questions. So we are back.

Richard Snape
Over 5,000 registrants.

Lizzie Collin
We did. There was a lot of people listening to what you had to say about the Renters Rights Act. So luckily you've got plenty to say about it. So I'm going to ask a few of the questions we didn't get to. The first one, a bit more of an overall sort of general question about do you think there are suitable financial provisions for the courts to handle all the matters relating to this new Act?

Richard Snape
No, that's that one. But I will tell you, the government's basically saying late last year they gave local authorities, not the courts, but local authorities, 18 million pounds. And then in April, they gave them another 41.12 million because they're supposed to be the body to enforce. I'll come back to the courts in a minute. That's currently there are 317 local authorities in England, which Lizzie is now going to tell you of their names. But that's 189,000 pounds per authority to do all the enforcement. And that's sort of, you know, full stop, not on every year or anything, and it doesn't seem to be enough. Some local authorities go about two-thirds of them have not prosecuted anybody for breaches, far fewer breaches in the past, in the last three years. But in terms of the courts, the government's saying they're going to give the courts another 50 million, the civil courts, 50 millions to to over a period of time to digitalise the court system. That is not just for the Renters Rights Act, that is across the board for all civil court proceedings. And it's a bit of a pittance they've fallen, they were always slow with bringing, you know, here in possession proceedings, but they have really fallen very, very slow post lockdown where they, for much of 2020, nothing was happening in terms of possession. So it's a drop in the ocean. I think it's going to cause problems. I also think it's going to cause major problems in the tribunal system when all the tenants start to question the landlord's rent increases and I can foresee major delays there, major. And the new lease can't kick in until the tribunal's made its decision and it won't be backdated anymore. So yeah, I think there's huge issues. Sir Jeffrey Voss, the current master of the roles, mentioned some of the problems looming because of this, but yeah.

Lizzie Collin
Okay, thank you for that. So we're going to talk a bit more now about fixed terms, notices and possession. And the first question we're being asked is, if a fixed term tenancy was signed before the 1st of May 2026, does the fixed term element fall away or stay until expiry?

Richard Snape
No, it falls away on May the 1st. 2026. It might have been a fixed term tenancy on April the 30th. It's now an assured periodic tenancy. It is retrospective completely.

Lizzie Collin
Okay, next question is, can a tenant now give notice earlier than a landlord who already served notice before the Act came into force?

Richard Snape
It seems so. I mean, basically under the Housing Act, which is the Renters Rights Act, or these parts of the Renters Rights Acts just amend the 88 Housing Act. But a landlord can only terminate a lease under Section 5 of the Housing Act by getting a court order, which is then executed, you know, getting the bailiffs around if needs to be. That's the only way a landlord can terminate a lease. Or with one or two exceptions primarily about immigration status and whether you've got a right to rent and reason. So the reason why in the past before they put a a duration limit of seven years post December the 27th, 2025 or before that date, 21 years. It was a reason the problem with long leases potentially being short holds because you can't affect forfeiture of short hold tenancy, it doesn't fall within section 5. But it seems that the tenant, if they don't want to be there, you know, if the landlord's notice period, they want to move elsewhere, then they can, as of May the 1st at any time, give two months notice. So it seems to be the case yet. They'd have to be a bit careful if they haven't got somewhere else to move to because they'll definitely be intentionally homeless for homelessness legislation.

Lizzie Collin
Thank you very much. Next question. Could tenants effectively stay for 16 months because of the first year restriction plus the four month notice period?

Richard Snape
Yeah, I mean, this is for ground 1A and ground one. They, where your landlord wants possession for as their principal home for themselves, their spouse, civil partner, cohabitant or a family member of such people, or ground 1A when you intend to sell the property, you have to serve four months notice and you can't do so within the first year of the tenancy agreement, but you can serve the four months within the first year. So you don't have to wait. You're going to have to seven, eight months. You could serve notice terminating, you know, on the year. Having said that, if the tenants refuse to go and again, if they decide to go, they might just be found to be intentionally homeless by the local housing authority. You'll have to go to court and you'll then have to get the bailiffs in if they still refuse to go. And that takes a long, long time in London, a very long time, takes eight months to get the bailiffs found in London. I did see figures that suggest about 42 weeks in London, the national average being lower.

Lizzie Collin
A couple more questions on ground one. The next one is if a landlord uses ground one to move back in, how long do they genuinely need to stay before re-letting?

Richard Snape
It's a difficult one that because there's not been much on yet because in the past the various grounds haven't really been used that much because everything's been insured short of and you just serve the two months notice. I mean, it's where the intend, the landlord or their families intend to live there. A genuine intention. So it's not inconceivable that you successfully use ground one and then decide to sell the property at the later stage. But it's a question of whether you intended or not, or if you intended to do that from ground one, it's not going to help. Do you remember we did a podcast on, it's nothing to do with this, it was just general on the 54 Act actually, but there was a case called Patel and Kellis on the 54 Act where the landlord intended to occupy for their own purposes, but admitted that after two years he intended to so they sell the whole place and he failed. If you've got an intention to sell at the very beginning, I suspect, you're not going to be able to use ground one.

Lizzie Collin
Another one on ground one is what happens if a landlord regains possession to sell but the buyer pulls out.

Richard Snape
Again, if the landlord genuinely intended to sell the property and loses their purchaser, then There's nothing stopping them continuing with ground one and intending to sell to somebody else, but they're going to have an intention. I think there's an analogy there. I've seen sort of an article on it that, you know, how do you decide whether there's a genuine intention? It's a bit like the grounds F&G of the Landlord Intended Act 1954. And a case that's always quoted, although it's not about the 54 Act, can live in government. Mentioned it in the webinar, actually. It's got to be out of the zone of contemplation and into the valley of decision. The one problem if the buyer pulls out is if you've used ground one, you won't be able to relet for the 4th. month notice period plus the year that follows. And that's on a short lease of 21 or less years, including Airbnbs or a licence you won't be able to create. So if the buyer pulls out, you're going to have potentially a vacant property for a significant time period.

Lizzie Collin
OK, thank you. Moving on, talking about CPI and RPI linked rent increases, can landlords still use them after the act?

Richard Snape
No. If you've got a rent review clause, this part is going to be retrospective, but if you've got a rent review clause as soon as on May the 1st, even if the rent review was in a lease prior to May the 1st, then it can't be used and RPI and consumer prices index are basically rent review clauses. So no, it's got to be the mechanism under the section 1340 of the 88 Act.

Lizzie Collin
And if a tenant challenges a rent increase but loses at tribunal, is there any penalty or cost consequence?

Richard Snape
They have to, whether they win or lose, they have to pay a fee of forty-seven pounds. We were talking about originally there were suggestions they'd be 100, but it was reduced to forty-seven pounds. Considering the fact that it's going to take ages, you would imagine for the tribunals to hear and the tenants I have to be told in information sheets or in a written statement that have their rights to question the rent. Lots of tenants are going to be questioning the rent and 47 pounds because when the final decision is made it can't be backdated. It can actually be extended for a further two months if there's a hardship for the tenant. But lots of tenants are going to make the applications and 47 pounds will be money well spent.

Lizzie Collin
Okey dokey. And will the tribunal assess market rent at the date of the notice or the hearing?

Richard Snape
It's the market rent at the beginning of the new period specified in the landlord's form 4A notice, which has to be at least two months.

Lizzie Collin
And the next question, there was a lot of talk in the webinar about pets, lots of questions about pets. And this question is asking, can landlords realistically refuse pets in leasehold flats where superior leases prohibit animals?

Richard Snape
If there's a superior lease that prohibits animals, then the superior lease prevails so the landlord can refuse.

Lizzie Collin
And another.

Richard Snape
So if it doesn't prohibit, then the landlord's supposed to ask the superior landlords. consent if it's subject to reasonableness or whatever.

Lizzie Collin
And can landlords limit the number of pets?

Richard Snape
Well, that depends on what's reasonable. Yeah. If you've got 10,000 dogs, then that's probably reasonable to limit the number. But it depends on the nature of the premises and so on.

Lizzie Collin
And I guess who makes that call as to what is reasonable though.

Richard Snape
At the end of the day, eventually you can get to a court order so the court will make a decision for specific performance, but you must really love your pet to do that. When the ombudsman, the redress scheme comes in, but that's not going to be probably until 12 to 18 months after the private sector database, which they're talking about late this year, early next, then the ombudsman could decide it, but that's a couple of years at least away.

Lizzie Collin
Okay, thank you. And what happens with mixed-use buildings, for example, a commercial lease with a flat above where vacant possession is needed at lease expiry?

Richard Snape
I'm not sure this is about pets, but... We've moved on. They, if it's mixed business residential, if it's on the same lease, it's a commercial premises, unless you're just taking work home with you or you're in breeding the use of covenants. Case called Cheryl and Saldana, Cheryl Investments Saldana in 1978. It comes within the, unless you've excluded the 54 Act, it comes within the 54 Landlord and Tenant Act. So you have to serve section 25 notices and so it's business tenancy. You can create something called a home business tenancy under the Small Business Enterprise and Employment Act, which came into force in October 1st, 2015 and still retain the residential regime. It's got to be something, a type of business can be reasonably out from home and doesn't include having a pub, unfortunately. And the lease has either got to allow that business user or it's got to allow subject to consents. But people don't create them because people have not heard about them. With that provider, it's a business tenancy. even if you work home with, even if you're sort of seeing clients at home. And so it's got a lot of other implications like change of use for planning and paying business rates and likes.

Lizzie Collin
Final question, could landlords simply advertise unrealistically high rents to get round the ban on bidding, rental bidding rules?

Richard Snape
When they advertise the property for rent, they have to state what the maximum rent they can accept as even if the tenants want to pay more, they can't accept it. And inevitably, that's going to potentially push rents up because they'll put as high a rent as they think they can get. Do ask the other questions. They won't take long.

Lizzie Collin
Yeah, some quick fire questions to, well, hopefully quick fire questions to finish. Are student lets exempt?

Richard Snape
If it's student lets from a high risk, specified higher education establishment, basically halls of residence, They're exempt as of May the 1st, but not retrospectively. If it's purpose built student accommodation in the private sector, it's been purpose built for students or mainly for students. It's going to have at least 15 bed spaces in them. then as long as the landlord is signed up to a code of practice, UNIPOL or ANUK, then they'll also be exempt. But otherwise outside those, you know, student accommodation just in the normal private sector is not exempt then.

Lizzie Collin

And does the act apply to lodgers?

Richard Snape
Lodgers are probably licensees if they're genuine license lodgers. And therefore the act only applies to leases, even if they weren't licensees, if you're sharing accommodation with the landlord, like, bedroom or kitchen or bedroom, probably that's a good way of reducing your rent if you're sharing the bedroom with him. But a bathroom is what I meant. But then they then sharing with the landlord is would be exempted. It's going to be sort of, you've got to have exclusive possession. If they've got a resident landlord, and this is not a logic, but if there's a resident landlord even in the same building where your flat, you know, is self-contained, it's an exclusion as well.

Lizzie Collin
And what about Airbnb properties? Are they caught?

Richard Snape
Airbnb would be the equivalent of holiday lets. They're probably business tenancies anyway. And so, you know, not residential, it's not your only principal home. And they are the equivalent of holiday let's and holiday let's, specifically exempted.

Lizzie Collin
And we've talked about pets, but what about smoking and vaping? Can they ban that?

Richard Snape
No, they, well, pets, smoking and vaping or people.

Lizzie Collin
That probably isn't advisable, but I meant humans.

Richard Snape
They, there's nothing stopping you banning smoking or vaping, no?

Lizzie Collin
And I think we mentioned this during the webinar itself, but the Homes for Ukraine scheme, does that fall outside of the regime?

Richard Snape
They don't pay a rent. I think they're licensees basically, so they're outside the regime as well. You know, it's a license agreement really. It's got to be a lease to be within the provisions in England. In Wales, occupation contracts can be licenses, but certainly in England.

Lizzie Collin
And last but not least, do existing ASTs now automatically become periodic tenancies?

Richard Snape
Yeah, on May the 1st they all became periodic assured or assured periodic tenancies. Even if there were an assured short hold the day beforehand, there are no periodic tenancies assured and there's no short hold. Notice available as of May the 1st there was beforehand.

Lizzie Collin
And there we go. All done. Thank you very much.

Richard Snape
Well, thank you Lizzie.

Lizzie Collin

Thanks very much Richard.