All change for landlords and tenants

If you let a residential property in England, it’s time to get ready for the significant changes to the law that will come into effect on 1 May 2026.

The new rules are mostly aimed at giving tenants greater security and ensuring let properties are in decent condition. Landlords will only be able to evict tenants if they have specific grounds, but there are also some positives for landlords.

The main measures are:

• All private tenancies will be periodic with tenants able to stay in their home until they decide to end their tenancy giving two months’ notice. Existing fixed-term assured tenancies will be converted into periodic tenancies. Evictions using section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 will be abolished.
• Existing possession grounds will be extended to make it easier for landlords to evict tenants if they want to sell the property, move into it, or let family members live there, though not during the first year of a tenancy. It will also be easier to evict tenants who engage in antisocial behaviour or are at least three months in arrears with their rent. But there will be new protections for tenants who temporarily get behind with their rent, and eviction notice periods will increase.
• Tenants will be able to appeal against unreasonable rent increases, though landlords will still be able to increase rents in line with market price once a year. They will have to follow a new legal process and give two months’ notice of the new rent. The independent First-tier Tribunal will decide any disputes.
• All new tenancy agreements from 1 May 2026 will need to have a written agreement that includes certain information. The government will soon publish details of what information will be required. Landlords will have to give existing tenants a government-produced information sheet, to be published in March.
• Letting agents and landlords seeking tenants will have to publish an asking rent and will be prohibited from accepting higher offers.
• Landlords will not be able to discriminate against prospective tenants who are on benefits or have children, nor will they be able (without reasonable grounds) to stop tenants having a pet.

All private tenancies will be periodic with tenants able to stay in their home until they decide to end their tenancy giving two months’ notice.

Strategies for enforcement

The government will create a private-rentedsector database before the end of 2026 to support local councils in tackling noncompliance and provide information to landlords and tenants. Landlords will have to register on the database in order to use certain possession grounds.

In 2028 landlords will have to sign up to the private rented sector Landlord Ombudsman and, at a date to be determined and subject to consultation, the Decent Homes Standard will be applied to privately let properties: landlords will have to act to make homes safe where they contain serious hazards – Awaab’s law. Following another future consultation, landlords will not be able to request advance payments of rent of more than one month.

Tax on property income

Landlords in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will also be hit by a two percentage point increase in income tax rates on property income from 6 April 2027 – to 22%, 42% and 47%. In line with this change, the basic-rate relief given for property finance costs will increase to 22%.