Landlords now face £40,000 fines as Labour's Renters' Rights Act comes into force - full list of changes

From Friday, May 1, the Renters’ Rights Act will overhaul England’s private rental market, giving tenants stronger protections while increasing the responsibilities and potential costs for property owners.

One of the biggest changes is the scrapping of Section 21 "no-fault" evictions.

Landlords will no longer be able to remove tenants without a valid reason, meaning they must now rely on specific grounds such as rent arrears or plans to sell the property.

Tenancy agreements are also changing. Fixed-term contracts will be replaced by rolling agreements, allowing tenants to stay in a property indefinitely unless they choose to leave or the landlord can prove a legitimate reason to regain possession.

For landlords, enforcement is tightening as local authorities have been given greater powers and a legal duty to act. They can enforce fines ranging from £7,000 up to £40,000 for serious or repeated breaches, up from the previous £30,000 cap.

The rules around rent arrears are also becoming stricter. The notice period for tenants in arrears will double from two weeks to four, while the threshold for eviction will increase from two months’ unpaid rent to three.

Taken together, the changes mark one of the most significant shifts in the rental market in decades, with landlords now needing to navigate a more regulated system that places greater emphasis on compliance and tenant protection.

Landlords are additionally prohibited from evicting tenants within the first 12 months of a tenancy to sell or move into the property themselves.

Rent increases are now restricted to once annually through a formal process, eliminating the previous practice of multiple hikes via contractual review clauses or successive fixed-term agreements.

Tenants who believe a proposed increase exceeds market value can contest it before a tribunal.

The Act outlaws rental bidding wars, preventing landlords and letting agents from soliciting or accepting offers above the advertised price.

Property owners are also limited to requesting no more than one month's rent as an advance payment.

Discrimination against prospective tenants is explicitly prohibited under the new rules, with landlords barred from rejecting applicants solely on the basis that they receive benefits or have children.

Rent repayment orders, which enable tenants to reclaim money from landlords who commit housing offences, now cover additional violations and the maximum recovery period has doubled.

Landlords must give reasonable consideration to tenant requests for pets and cannot unreasonably refuse permission, with responses typically required within 28 days.

Property owners will be obligated to register with the new Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman, which will independently investigate and resolve tenant complaints about landlord conduct.

They must also join the Private Rented Sector Database and list their properties, with both schemes expected to carry small fees.

Rental properties will need to comply with the Decent Homes Standard, ensuring homes are free from serious hazards, maintained in reasonable repair, equipped with modern facilities and adequately heated.

Under Awaab's law, landlords must address emergency hazards within 24 hours, while damp and mould complaints require investigation within 10 working days.

Overview of Act measures

The Renters' Rights Act will:

• Abolish section 21 evictions and move to a simpler tenancy structure where all assured tenancies are periodic – providing more security for tenants and empowering them to challenge poor practice and unfair rent increases without fear of eviction. We will implement this new system in one stage, giving all tenants security immediately.
• Ensure possession grounds are fair to both parties, giving tenants more security, while ensuring landlords can recover their property when reasonable. The Act introduces new safeguards for tenants, giving them more time to find a home if landlords evict to move in or sell, and ensuring unscrupulous landlords cannot misuse grounds.
• Provide stronger protections against backdoor eviction by ensuring tenants are able to appeal excessive above-market rents which are purely designed to force them out. As now, landlords will still be able to increase rents to market price for their properties and an independent tribunal will make a judgement on this, if needed.
• Introduce a new Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman that will provide quick, fair, impartial and binding resolution for tenants’ complaints about their landlord. This will bring tenant-landlord complaint resolution in line with established redress practices for tenants in social housing and consumers of property agent services
• Create a Private Rented Sector Database to help landlords understand their legal obligations and demonstrate compliance (giving good landlords confidence in their position), alongside providing better information to tenants to make informed decisions when entering into a tenancy agreement. It will also support local councils – helping them target enforcement activity where it is needed most. Landlords will need to be registered on the database in order to use certain possession grounds.
• Give tenants strengthened rights to request a pet in the property, which the landlord must consider and cannot unreasonably refuse.
• Apply the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector to give renters safer, better value homes and remove the blight of poor-quality homes in local communities.
• Apply ‘Awaab’s Law’ to the sector, setting clear legal expectations about the timeframes within which landlords in the private rented sector must take action to make homes safe where they contain serious hazards.
• Make it illegal for landlords and agents to discriminate against prospective tenants in receipt of benefits or with children – helping to ensure everyone is treated fairly when looking for a place to live.
• End the practice of rental bidding by prohibiting landlords and agents from asking for or accepting offers above the advertised rent. Landlords and agents will be required to publish an asking rent for their property and it will be illegal to accept offers made above this rate.
• Strengthen local authority enforcement by expanding civil penalties, introducing a package of investigatory powers and bringing in a new requirement for local authorities to report on enforcement activity.
• Strengthen rent repayment orders by extending them to superior landlords, doubling the maximum penalty and ensuring repeat offenders have to repay the maximum amount.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: "For too long, families have lived with the constant fear of eviction, while young people have been outbid for the homes they need to start their lives.

"Today we are putting that right. We promised to fix a broken rental system and we're delivering. This historic action will make renting fairer, safer and more secure for millions, so people can settle, put down roots and build their lives."

Housing Secretary Steve Reed said: "Renters have been living at the mercy of rogue landlords and in fear of losing their home for too long.

"We are putting a stop to this with historic changes that give renters the security they deserve marking the beginning of a new era for private renters."

Joanna Elson, chief executive at Independent Age, said: "Many of the tenants in later life that we speak to say that, until now, they lived in a constant state of anxiety, worried about being evicted for no reason and the consequences of asking their landlord for repairs.

"Although the job of making renting safe, secure and affordable for everyone is not yet done, today we are a significant step closer."

Unison general secretary Andrea Egan said: "These extra protections will make a big difference for millions in rented accommodation. Tenants are often among the lowest earners and need the extra help.

"But the next step must be to introduce rent controls. That will stop landlords forcing people out by ratcheting up fees to unaffordable levels."