NEWS·MAY 2026
The Renters' Rights Act comes into force today, abolishing Section 21 no fault evictions and converting every assured shorthold tenancy in England into a periodic tenancy. It is the most significant change to renting in almost forty years.
Around 11 million private renters are affected. From today, landlords can only regain possession using the strengthened Section 8 grounds, rent can only be increased once a year through the formal notice process, rental bidding is banned, and tenants gain the right to request a pet, which landlords cannot unreasonably refuse.
The six months since Royal Assent have been a story of adjustment. Many smaller landlords have sold, adding to the stock of ex-rental homes coming to market and tightening rental supply further. Professional operators, by contrast, have expanded, and build to rent investment has continued at near record levels through the transition.
For institutional landlords and BTR operators, day one changes little in practice: the standards the Act mandates were already their operating model. The more interesting question is what happens to supply. Early evidence suggests the exodus of amateur landlords is real but orderly, and the homes they sell are being absorbed by first time buyers and professional investors alike.
Rents will bear watching. Constrained supply against resilient demand points to continued rental growth, which keeps the politics of renting live even as the legislation settles.
Our view remains that professionalisation is the durable outcome. Scale, compliance and service now define the sector's winners.
NEWS·MAY 2026
The Renters' Rights Act comes into force today, abolishing Section 21 no fault evictions and converting every assured shorthold tenancy in England into a periodic tenancy. It is the most significant change to renting in almost forty years.
Around 11 million private renters are affected. From today, landlords can only regain possession using the strengthened Section 8 grounds, rent can only be increased once a year through the formal notice process, rental bidding is banned, and tenants gain the right to request a pet, which landlords cannot unreasonably refuse.
The six months since Royal Assent have been a story of adjustment. Many smaller landlords have sold, adding to the stock of ex-rental homes coming to market and tightening rental supply further. Professional operators, by contrast, have expanded, and build to rent investment has continued at near record levels through the transition.
For institutional landlords and BTR operators, day one changes little in practice: the standards the Act mandates were already their operating model. The more interesting question is what happens to supply. Early evidence suggests the exodus of amateur landlords is real but orderly, and the homes they sell are being absorbed by first time buyers and professional investors alike.
Rents will bear watching. Constrained supply against resilient demand points to continued rental growth, which keeps the politics of renting live even as the legislation settles.
Our view remains that professionalisation is the durable outcome. Scale, compliance and service now define the sector's winners.