Tenant rights in England: a renter’s summary for 2026

Before you sign

A landlord or agent can’t take any rent before the agreement is signed, and must not ask for or accept offers above the advertised rent. You are owed written information about the key terms before you agree the tenancy, and the energy certificate when you first view or get details of the home.

Most fees are banned: you can’t be made to pay for an inventory, buy insurance or use a deposit replacement product as a condition of renting. Every adult tenant must still pass a Right to Rent check. What a landlord can and can’t charge, the bidding ban and questions to ask at a viewing. Students and people moving from overseas have their own guides: renting as a student and renting from abroad.

Money and deposits

A holding deposit can be up to one week’s rent. Once you have signed, the most you can be asked for in advance is one month’s rent (28 days’ if you pay weekly). The tenancy deposit is capped at five weeks’ rent where the yearly rent is under £50,000, and six weeks’ at £50,000 or more.

Your landlord must protect the deposit in a government-approved scheme within 30 days of getting it, and return it within 10 days of you agreeing how much you get back. If you can’t agree, the scheme offers a free dispute service. A court can’t make a possession order against you while your deposit is unprotected. Check your deposit is protected, and read how to get your deposit back.

Repairs and safety

Your landlord is responsible for the structure and outside of the home, heating and hot water, sinks, baths, pipes and drains, gas, and the wiring. The home must be fit to live in from the start of the tenancy and throughout it, and you can take your landlord to court if it isn’t, once you have told them in writing and given them a reasonable time to fix it.

Gas appliances need a safety check every year, the electrics an inspection at least every five years, and you get a copy of each. There must be a smoke alarm on every storey with living space and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room with a fixed combustion appliance other than a gas cooker. If repairs aren’t done, your council can inspect and must act on serious hazards. Damp and mould, gas safety, electrical safety and smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.

Rent increases

Your rent can go up once a year at most, not in the first year of the tenancy, and only on a Form 4A notice giving you at least two months’ notice. A rent review clause in your agreement can’t be used to get around this.

If you think the new rent is above what the home would let for on the open market, you can ask the First-tier Tribunal to decide. Apply before the date the new rent is due to start. When your rent can go up, what a rise comes to and how to challenge it at the tribunal.

Ending a tenancy and eviction

You can end your tenancy with two months’ written notice, ending on a rent day or the day before, and you pay rent until it ends. How to give notice that works.

Your landlord needs a legal ground, set out in a section 8 notice. Selling or moving in needs four months’ notice and can’t be used to take the home back in the first 12 months; serious rent arrears (three months’ rent, or 13 weeks’ if you pay weekly) needs four weeks’. If you stay, only a court can order you to leave. Notice periods for each ground and what a section 8 notice must contain.

Harassment and eviction without a court order are crimes, and councils can fine landlords up to £40,000. If you are being locked out, call the police. What to do about an illegal eviction.

Pets

You can ask in writing to keep a pet, and your landlord has 28 days to reply in writing. They can’t refuse unreasonably: a home too small for the pet or a freeholder’s ban may be a fair reason, simply not liking pets usually isn’t. Your landlord can take pet damage from the deposit, but can’t make you pay for insurance. Can a landlord refuse pets?

Discrimination

A landlord, agent or referencing company can’t refuse you, or make it harder for you to rent, because you have children or claim benefits, and a term in an agreement that does so is not valid. They can still check you can afford the rent. Your council enforces this and can fine up to £7,000, so keep the advert and messages. For discrimination for other reasons, such as disability or sex, GOV.UK points you to Citizens Advice.

Complaints, and what is still to come

Complain to your landlord first, in writing. If that fails, GOV.UK suggests your MP, a councillor or a tenant panel, then your council. A letting agent must belong to a redress scheme (The Property Ombudsman or the Property Redress Scheme), which takes complaints the agent hasn’t resolved. If your landlord broke certain laws, you may be able to claim back rent through a rent repayment order.

Several rights in the Renters’ Rights Act are not in force yet:

• Landlord ombudsman. Landlords will have to join; the government expects that in 2028. About the ombudsman.
• PRS database. Landlord registration is due to open region by region from December 2026, under regulations still in draft. No date is set for tenants to search it. The PRS database.
• Decent Homes Standard. The government says it will apply to private rented homes from 2035, and the legislation is still to come. What the standard will require.
• Awaab’s Law. Deadlines for fixing serious hazards such as damp and mould. For private renting it is out to consultation until 18 December 2026, with no start date.

Where this comes from

On GOV.UK: assured periodic tenancies: a guide for tenants, including rent in advance and deposits, rent increases, pets, ending your tenancy and if your landlord wants to end it; grounds for possession: guidance for tenants; tenancy deposit protection; repairs and your landlord’s safety responsibilities; the fitness for human habitation guide for tenants; harassment and illegal evictions; rental discrimination; private renting complaints; the tribunal’s form MR1; the Renters’ Rights Act implementation roadmap; the Decent Homes Standard policy statement; and the consultation on extending Awaab’s Law. On legislation.gov.uk: the smoke and carbon monoxide alarm rules.

This guide covers common private tenancies in England and is general information, not legal advice. Different rules apply in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and to lodgers, social housing and some specialist accommodation. RenterCheck is independent and not connected with the government.