New landlord rules in 2026: what changed for renters

1. Section 21 has been abolished

A landlord can no longer evict you without giving a reason. They have to use the section 8 process, name a ground the law recognises, give the notice period that ground requires, and prove it in court if you stay. A notice is not an eviction, and only a court-appointed bailiff can carry one out.

What abolition changed, and why an old section 21 notice is now spent — and what a section 8 notice must contain, with the notice period for each ground.

2. Fixed terms have gone

Most existing assured shorthold tenancies became assured periodic tenancies on 1 May 2026, and an end date written into an older agreement no longer operates. Landlords did not have to reissue agreements, but they did have to give every existing tenant the government’s information sheet by 31 May 2026, or written terms where the tenancy had only ever been verbal. A landlord who did neither can be fined up to £7,000.

Never received anything? The information sheet is on GOV.UK, and your council is who enforces it.

3. You can leave on two months’ notice

A tenant ends an assured periodic tenancy with two months’ written notice, and where no shorter period has been agreed in writing it has to expire on the first or last day of a tenancy period. Rent stays payable to the end of the notice, whether or not you have already moved out.

How to give notice that actually works — the date is the part people get wrong.

4. Rent rises once a year, on a form

An increase needs a section 13 notice on Form 4A with at least two months’ notice, cannot happen in the first 12 months of a tenancy, and cannot happen more than once a year. A rent review clause in an agreement can no longer be used to get around it. If the new rent is above the market rent, you can challenge it at the First-tier Tribunal.

When your landlord can put the rent up, and how to challenge it.

5. Rental bidding is banned

A written advertisement or offer has to state a price, and GOV.UK is explicit that your landlord cannot accept or encourage offers above the advertised rent. An agent inviting “best and final” offers on a rental is doing something the law now prohibits.

Screenshot the advert with its rent, keep the messages, and report it to the council. The advert is the evidence, and it disappears when the listing does.

6. Rent in advance is capped

Your landlord cannot ask for, encourage or accept any rent before you have signed the tenancy agreement. Once it is signed, the most you can be asked for is one month’s rent in advance. Six months up front, which used to be routine for students and people without a UK guarantor, is no longer allowed for most private tenancies.

7. Pets have to be considered

You can ask to keep a pet, your landlord has to consider the request, and they should give you a reason if they refuse. It is not a right to keep any pet in any home, but a blanket no written into an agreement is not the end of the conversation any more.

8. No refusing families or benefit claimants

A landlord or agent cannot refuse to rent to you because you have children or because you claim benefits. They can still assess whether you can afford the rent and still take references. What they cannot do is rule you out before that, with a blanket policy.

9. Deposits and fees, unchanged but still misused

A deposit is capped at five weeks’ rent where the annual rent is under £50,000, or six weeks between £50,000 and £100,000, and has to be protected in an approved scheme within 30 days. Your landlord cannot make you buy insurance, use a guarantor service, buy a deposit replacement product or pay for an inventory as a condition of the tenancy.

When a holding deposit must be refunded, how deposit replacement products compare and whether your deposit is protected.

What should I do about it?

Mostly, keep records. Almost every one of these rules is enforceable only if you can show what was advertised, what was asked for and when. The evidence costs nothing to gather at the time and cannot be recreated later.

• Screenshot the advert, with the rent on it, before the listing comes down.
• Keep every message about money, in order.
• Pay no rent before the agreement is signed.
• Check the deposit against the cap, and that it is protected within 30 days.
• Keep notices with the envelope or email they arrived in.
• Query any fee that is not rent or deposit, in writing.
• Get advice the day eviction is mentioned, not the week you have to leave.