Repairing obligations under the Renters' Rights Act: will it be any different this time?

Repairing obligations in short leases are nothing new. The Housing Act 1961 imposed duties on landlords for the first time in relation to the state and condition of rented property. This was an initial attempt to level the playing field between landlords and tenants.

Since then, we have had the Defective Premises Act 1972, the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (essentially a restatement of the 1961 Act), the Housing Act 2004 and, most recently, the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018. The last 65 years have seen repeated attempts to tackle issues of repair (or disrepair) in the private rented sector.

The fact that in drafting the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (Act) there was felt a need to tackle housing disrepair again, and the reality that a lot of tenanted properties remain below standard, transparently causing significant societal harm, suggests the system to date has not worked, or has at least not worked as legislators hoped it would.

So how does the Act seek to tackle housing disrepair?

We have Section 60 of the Act which, once implemented, will amend the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 to extend a set of fixed timescales for investigating and responding to hazards to the private rented sector. This is referred to as Awaab's Law and is already in force for the social housing sector.

We also have Section 100 of the Act which is a provision entitled "Decent Homes Standard" and will make changes to the Housing Act 2004. This also originates from the social housing sector but is slightly more nebulous as a concept as we do not have a lot of detail at the moment. It will be about having a house in good repair with modern facilities and adequate thermal comfort. A cynic would ask how different a 'decent home' is, compared to a home fit for human habitation.

These changes will be implemented as Phase 3 of the Government's roadmap for reforming the private rented sector. However, the timescale for Phase 3 is still to be announced, and the roadmap states the Government has proposed bringing the Decent Homes Standard in to force in 2035 or 2037 and will consult in due course on the implementation timescales for the extension of Awaab's Law. So we may be a decade off!

It rather begs the question how will the Act make any difference to repair?

• First, all landlords and all properties will have to be registered on a new database, with certain information being made public. Landlords will be unable to let a property without registering both themselves (even if they use an agent) and the property, and providing the requisite information. While the Act does not set out exactly what is required to be registered, it is likely to include those compliance points that currently block a section 21 notice, for example, gas safety certificates and EPCs. Recent Government guidance also suggests that electricity safety certificates will be required, so 'tenants are assured about the safety and energy efficiency of the property'. What this also does is create a skeleton on which further requirements can be hung.
• Secondly, all landlords (including those with regulated tenancies, as well as assured tenancies) will be required to join the new ombudsman scheme, when it is up-and-running. The ombudsman will provide a redress service for tenants, and landlords will be bound by the ombudsman's findings. These may be enforceable as if they were county court judgments, with sanctions and penalties as appropriate. Landlords will be required to fund the scheme, and it will be free for tenants to use. With tenants being given cost-free remedies it is hard to see why they would not use the scheme.
• Thirdly, the extension of Awaab’s Law will introduce strict timetables within which landlords will be required to act on hazards that threaten health. This will give tenants a clear framework to highlight any delay when it comes to landlords remedying hazardous circumstances.
• Finally, from 1 May 2026 section 21 notices will be abolished and landlords will only be able to evict a tenant under one of the updated grounds for possession. The possibility of being served with a section 21 notice would plainly act as a disincentive to most tenants when it comes to making a complaint to the landlord or an ombudsman about wants of repair. With security of tenure assured from 1 May 2026 there is less disincentive to complain.

Ironically, these are not really changes in the law on repair, and the people who drafted the 1961 Act expected landlords to keep premises in proper repair. The difference now, in 2026, is that Parliament may finally have created mechanisms that enable tenants to hold landlords to account at no cost to the tenants.

While it remains unclear when the relevant parts of the Act will eventually be brought into force, landlords would do well to reflect on the condition of residential premises now, on the basis that tenants are going to be given a slightly wider set of remedies in the future.

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

© Farrer & Co LLP, January 2026