The Renters’ Rights Act explained 

The Renters’ Rights Bill received Royal Assent earlier this week and will mean changes for people who rent their homes.  

Now the Renters’ Rights Act, it represents a significant legislative milestone that will make some changes to transform the private rented sector in England. The act introduces comprehensive reforms aimed at enhancing tenant security, fairness, and housing standards.  

It’s not yet clear exactly when the law comes into practice, the government will tell us key dates but it’s likely to be applied in stages.  Some of the changes for renters and us as your landlord include:   

Tenancy agreements

If you are on a fixed term tenancy or an assured-shorthold tenancy, your rights will change. You will automatically have an assured tenancy, meaning that you can stay in your home until you decide to leave.

This measure has been introduced to stamp out poor practice in the private rented sector and is very much welcomed by us. We already see eviction as a last resort so this will mean little change for most of our tenants.

For renters in interim housing, such as temporary housing, however, new grounds have been introduced which means we will need to apply to court if we need to end the tenancy.  

Anti-social behaviour (ASB) 

The grounds for eviction due to ASB have been strengthened, meaning residents who commit serious anti-social behaviour can be evicted more quickly.  

Rent arrears

New notice periods for different scenarios, in particular new protection for tenants who have a shortall due to a universal credit application being processed.  

Right to own a pet

While we already operate a pet-friendly policy, this measure will ensure that landlords can’t unreasonably withhold consent when a tenant requests to have a pet in their home, with the tenant able to challenge unfair decisions.  

Quality

The act will extend compliance with other standards from the social housing to private rented sector: 

There’s lots more in the act, such as new rules around rent increases and stopping rental discrimination which are all aimed at more dishonest private landlords.  

Further reforms to the private rented sector are also expected at later stages, including a new ombudsman service and a national database for private rented properties, on which we will need to register all our homes of that tenure.   

Find out more 

If you want to find out more about the bill, you can read it in full on the government website.