10 things you might not know about the Renters' Rights Act 2025

Spring has sprung and 1 May 2026 is behind us. In case you missed it, 1 May 2026 was an important date for the UK property market. Part 1 of the Renters Rights' Act 2025 (RRA) came into force, bringing with it the biggest shake up of the private sector since the 1980s.

Based on enquiries we have received over the last few weeks, we have summarised 10 important or lesser known facts about the RRA.

For more detail on the impact of the RRA, please refer to our Q&A here.

1. An AST may not convert on 1 May 2026

An existing assured shorthold tenancy (AST) may not have automatically converted into an assured periodic tenancy (APT) on 1 May 2026. If 1 May 2026 fell in the middle of a rental period, the tenancy will only convert at the beginning of the next rental period. The rental period is based on when rent is paid. So, for example with a monthly AST where rent is paid on the fifteenth day of the month, it will only convert to an APT on 15 May 2026. Alternatively, if an AST started on 1 March 2026 and rent is paid on a six-monthly basis, the AST will convert to an APT on 1 September 2026.

2. Changes to new tenancy agreements

APTs which are granted on or after 1 May 2026 must include certain written information about the terms of the tenancy. This can be included in the tenancy agreement itself or in a separate document.

Regulations setting out the written information to be included were made on 18 March 2026 and came into force on 1 May 2026.

Landlords do not need to amend the wording of tenancy agreements which were in existence prior to 1 May 2026.

3. Existing tenants need to receive prescribed information about the changes

If a landlord has any ASTs in place which are continuing beyond 1 May 2026, they must serve each of those tenants with an information sheet about the changes by 31 May 2026. The information sheet has been published by the government so landlords can now arrange for this to be served on tenants.

4. It is still possible to accept more than one month's rent.

If, once a tenancy is underway a tenant chooses to pay more than one month's rent in advance, then it will be able to do so, and the landlord will be able to accept the rent. However, landlords and agents must not prompt or encourage this practice and cannot ask for more than one month's rent in advance.

5. Lenders will have better rights

Lenders do not need to worry about when the APT was granted or whether a ground 2 notice was served on the tenant prior to the APT commencing.

Under the Housing Act 1988 (prior to the RRA amendments), lenders could only rely on statutory rights of termination if their charge was in place before the AST was granted and if a ground 2 notice was served on the tenant before the AST commenced.  From 1 May 2026, any lender can terminate a tenancy on 4 months' notice in the event of a repossession without worrying about when the tenancy was granted or whether the tenant is on notice.

Lenders do perhaps need to worry about valuations, but that is a subject for a longer article.

6. All tenants are allowed pets (unless there is a very good reason to refuse consent)

It will be an implied clause of all assured tenancies that a tenant can ask for consent to keep a pet. This is the case even if the original agreement banned pets. A landlord must respond to a tenant's request within 28 days and can only refuse on reasonable grounds. Reasonable grounds will be limited and are likely to be restricted to the following: if the landlord's own lease prohibits it; if another tenant has an allergy; if the property is too small for the pet in question; or if the pet is illegal to own.

7. No minimum home standards yet

Although there has been a lot of discussion in the media about new requirements in relation to the standard of the tenanted homes, new requirements on home condition did not come into effect on 1 May. The detail of these home standards is yet to be announced and we are some way from implementation of these measures (the government has said it may be 2035 or 2037 that the Decent Homes Standard comes into force).

8. Contractual rent reviews will only bind tenants if they come into force prior to 1 May 2026

The RRA's transitional provisions read alongside government guidance confirm that if a landlord carried out a contractual rent review before the 1 May 2026, it will only be binding on the tenant if the increased rent also became due prior to that date.

9. Landlords cannot let pre-May enforcement action stall

If a landlord served a section 21 notice before 1 May 2026 and the tenant does not vacate when the notice expires, the landlord will need to follow up promptly and take Court action to recover possession of the property. If landlords do not follow up promptly, they could lose their section 21 rights and will only be able to terminate the tenancy on the limited grounds set out in the RRA.

10. No long lease trap

The RRA has abolished the assured tenancy trap for long leases (and in fact this change came into effect on 27 December 2025). An unfortune quirk of the earlier legislation meant that long leases with high annual ground rents (over £250 a year outside London and over £1,000 a year in Greater London) were technically assured tenancies. This theoretically meant that if long leasehold tenants failed to pay their ground rent, their landlord could apply to Court to terminate the lease and, as a mandatory ground, the Court would be required to order termination.

This trap was of great concern to long leasehold tenants and their lenders who sought to protect themselves against the risk of a capital asset being terminated so easily and many indemnity insurance policies were purchased in the pursuit of protection. So, this change is bad news for indemnity insurers but good news for tenants and lenders!

This publication is a general summary of the law. It should not replace legal advice tailored to your specific circumstances.

© Farrer & Co LLP, May 2026