The Renters' Rights Act 2026: The Landlord Compliance Checklist

The short version

The Renters' Rights Act's tenancy reforms came into force on 1 May 2026 — the biggest change to the private rented sector in a generation. Section 21 no-fault evictions are gone. Fixed-term assured shorthold tenancies are gone. In their place is a single periodic tenancy — with a mandatory landlord database, a new ombudsman, and tighter standards for the condition of your properties following in later phases.

This is not a gentle transition. The penalties for getting it wrong run from £7,000 civil fines up to £40,000 for serious breaches, and local authorities have been given much sharper enforcement teeth. This guide walks through exactly what changed on 1 May, what is still to come, and what it means for how you track compliance across your portfolio.

What changed on 1 May

The Act replaces the old assured shorthold tenancy (AST) regime with a new-style assured tenancy that is periodic from day one. There is no fixed term. Tenants can give two months' notice at any point. Landlords can only end a tenancy by using one of the expanded Section 8 grounds for possession, each of which requires evidence.

The key changes in plain English:

• Section 21 is abolished. No no-fault eviction notice can be served on or after 1 May. Every possession claim has to rely on a Section 8 ground — rent arrears, anti-social behaviour, sale of the property, moving in yourself, and so on — and you have to prove it.
• All tenancies are periodic. Fixed-term tenancies no longer exist for new lets, and existing fixed-term ASTs converted to the new-style tenancy on the commencement date.
• Rent increases are capped to once per year and must be served using a Section 13 notice. Mid-tenancy uplifts by agreement are no longer valid.
• Rental bidding is banned. You have to advertise a property at a fixed rent and cannot accept offers above it.
• Blanket bans on tenants with children or on benefits are unlawful, and refusing pet requests without good reason is also unlawful.

Coming in Phase 2 and beyond (late 2026 onward)

Four headline measures were not part of the 1 May commencement and arrive on a phased timetable:

• The Private Rented Sector Database. Phased regional rollout from late 2026, with registration expected to be mandatory nationally around 2027. Once in force, every landlord in England will have to register every property they let, and an unregistered landlord will be unable to market the property or obtain a possession order except on anti-social behaviour grounds.
• Ombudsman membership. The new Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman does not exist yet — development starts in late 2026 and compulsory membership is expected around 2028. There is nothing to join today; the action is to watch for the scheme's launch.
• The Decent Homes Standard for private renting. Still subject to consultation, with application expected years out. Walking your properties against it now is early preparation, not a live duty.
• Awaab's Law in the PRS. Currently social housing only; the extension needs secondary legislation, is subject to consultation, and is expected from 2027.

Taken individually, each of these is manageable. Taken together, they fundamentally change what compliance looks like for a landlord or letting agent.

Your compliance checklist

Here is what every landlord with a let property in England needs to have in place — some of it now, some of it ready for the phases ahead.

1. Get ready to register on the PRS Database

The database is the single biggest operational change on the horizon. Once registration opens in your region (phased from late 2026), you will need to register:

• Your details as the landlord (individual or company)
• The property address and basic characteristics
• Your current gas safety certificate
• Your current EICR
• Your current EPC
• Evidence of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms
• Any licences the property holds (selective, additional, or HMO)

The database will be used by local authorities, tenants, and the courts to verify that you are a legitimate and compliant landlord. Once the duty is in force, letting a property that is not registered will be a civil offence with fines of up to £7,000, and repeat or serious breaches will carry penalties of up to £40,000 or criminal prosecution.

Crucially, once the registration duty is live, a landlord in breach will be unable to obtain a possession order except on anti-social behaviour grounds. That restriction cannot bite before the database exists — but it is the reason to be registration-ready on day one.

What to do now: pull together the paperwork for every property — gas safety certificate, EICR, EPC, alarm evidence, licence details — so you can register in the first available window. Landlords waiting until the last minute will be competing for the same portal.

2. Watch for the Ombudsman scheme's launch

Membership of the new Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman will become mandatory for every landlord who lets a property in England, whether you self-manage or use an agent — but the scheme does not exist yet. Development starts in late 2026, and compulsory membership is expected around 2028. When it launches, the Ombudsman will handle tenant complaints about service, conduct, and property condition, and will be able to order compensation of up to £25,000.

Once membership is mandatory, you will need to:

• Register as a member and pay the annual fee
• Display your membership details in tenancy agreements and marketing
• Respond to any complaint within the Ombudsman's timeframes
• Comply with any determinations made against you

Ignoring an Ombudsman decision will itself be a breach and can lead to removal from the database — which in turn means you cannot let the property.

What to do now: there is nothing to join yet. Watch for the scheme's launch, and when it opens, check the fee and diarise the renewal so membership never lapses.

3. Audit your properties against the Decent Homes Standard

The Decent Homes Standard for the PRS is not in force yet — it remains subject to consultation and is not expected to apply for several years. When it does, your properties will have to meet a four-part standard covering:

• Statutory minimum condition (no Category 1 hazards under HHSRS)
• Reasonable state of repair
• Reasonably modern facilities and services
• Reasonable degree of thermal comfort

Local authorities will inspect properties against the standard and will be able to serve improvement notices, prohibition orders, or civil penalties for breaches. Unlike the old regime, the Decent Homes Standard is measurable and inspectors will come armed with a checklist.

What to do now: walk every property as early preparation. Anything borderline — ageing kitchens, poor insulation, damp patches, dated bathrooms — is where inspectors will focus first when the standard lands.

4. Set up a hazard-response process for Awaab's Law

Awaab's Law currently applies to social housing only. The extension to private landlords needs secondary legislation, is subject to consultation, and is expected from 2027. Based on the in-force social-sector template:

• Emergency hazards (risk to life or serious injury) must be made safe within 24 hours
• Significant hazards must be investigated within 10 working days, with work beginning within a further fixed window
• You must issue a written summary to the tenant

Damp and mould are the flagship cases, but the same rules apply to electrical faults, serious leaks, structural issues, and fire risks. Once the PRS extension commences, missing a deadline will be a breach even if you eventually fix the problem.

This is where record-keeping becomes critical. If a tenant complains six months later and the Ombudsman or a court asks when you were notified, when you inspected, and when you repaired — you will need documentary proof for each step.

What to do now: write down a simple three-step process — how a tenant reports an issue, who inspects and when, and how the fix is recorded — and agree it with your contractors well ahead of the PRS extension.

5. Keep the existing compliance certificates current

None of the pre-existing regulations have been repealed. You still need:

• A valid gas safety certificate (CP12) renewed annually
• A valid EICR, with the next inspection on or before the fifth anniversary
• A valid EPC at a rating of E or better (with the tightening to C on the horizon)
• Smoke alarms on every storey and carbon monoxide alarms in every room with a fixed combustion appliance
• Legionella risk assessments where applicable
• Right to Rent checks for every adult occupier

The difference under the new regime is that these certificates will become visible on the database and actively checked once registration opens. Letting a property without a valid CP12 has always carried a £6,000 fine on its own. Under the phased-in regime it will also be capable of triggering a database-related breach, an Ombudsman complaint, and a tenant rent repayment order — stacking penalties from one missed renewal.

6. Update how you handle rent increases

Since 1 May, rent is only increaseable:

• Once every 12 months
• Using a Section 13 notice, served in the prescribed form
• With at least two months' notice
• At a level that does not exceed the market rate for the local area

Tenants will be able to challenge an increase at the First-tier Tribunal, and the Tribunal will only be able to confirm or reduce the proposed rent — it will no longer be able to order an increase above what the landlord asked for. Informal rent increases agreed by email will not be valid.

What to do now: cancel any planned informal uplifts and reschedule them into the new Section 13 process.

7. Review your marketing and tenant selection

Several practices that were legal last year will be unlawful from 1 May:

• Rental bidding — you must advertise a fixed rent and cannot accept offers above it
• Blanket bans on families with children or tenants receiving benefits
• Unreasonable refusals of pet requests — you can require pet insurance but cannot refuse without good reason
• Guarantor demands that are disproportionate to the risk

Letting agents should review property listings, application forms, and tenant referencing criteria before commencement and remove any language or practice that would be discriminatory or unlawful under the Act.

8. Update your tenancy agreements

Every agreement you issue on or after 1 May needs to be a new-style periodic tenancy. That means removing:

• Any fixed-term clauses
• Any Section 21 notice provisions
• Any rent review clauses that conflict with the annual cap
• Any pet or occupier bans that would be unlawful

And adding:

• Updated rent increase mechanism
• Updated grounds for possession under the new Section 8
• Room for the Ombudsman membership details and database registration reference, which become required once those Phase 2 schemes launch

Using an old template is the single fastest route to serving an invalid notice.

Enforcement: what to expect from councils

Local authorities have been given significantly expanded powers under the Act, in effect since 1 May:

• Civil penalties of up to £40,000 for serious breaches, without the need to go through the criminal courts
• Rent repayment orders covering up to 24 months of rent, issued directly to tenants
• Banning orders preventing a landlord from letting property for up to five years
• Database removal (once the database is live), which will effectively shut down your ability to let in England

Several councils have publicly committed to proactive enforcement of the live tenancy reforms, with database registration, Ombudsman membership, and Awaab's Law hazard windows joining the list as each phase commences.

The pattern is clear: the enforcement burden is shifting from tenant-initiated court claims to proactive authority action, and the evidence of compliance will have to be there when they ask.

What this means for tracking compliance

Under the old regime, compliance was mostly about holding a handful of certificates. Under the new regime it is about being able to prove, on demand, that:

• Every notice was served correctly, using the right form, in the right order
• Every rent increase followed the Section 13 process
• Every tenant received the right paperwork at the right point in the tenancy
• Every certificate is valid — and, once the database rolls out, uploaded and current on the register
• Every hazard report was acknowledged and fixed — within statutory deadlines once Awaab's Law reaches the PRS

That is a lot of moving parts across a portfolio. One missed gas safety renewal used to be a £6,000 problem. As the phases land it will be capable of cascading into a database breach, an Ombudsman finding, a rent repayment order, and a banning order — all from the same missed date.

This is the core reason a dedicated compliance system has gone from "nice to have" to operational necessity. Proplio tracks every certificate and every deadline across your portfolio, gives you a colour-coded dashboard of compliance status for every property, and sends automatic email reminders at 90, 60, 30, 14, and 7 days before anything expires. When a local authority or the Ombudsman asks you to prove compliance, the evidence is already organised.

The pitfalls to avoid from day one

Based on how the Act is written and how similar regimes have played out, the highest-risk mistakes in the first months will be:

1. 1Serving a Section 21 notice by mistake, usually because someone is working from an old template
2. 2Letting a property before its database registration is complete once the registration duty is live — the listing is up but the record is still pending
3. 3Treating Ombudsman membership as annual admin once the scheme launches, and missing a complaint deadline
4. 4Not documenting hazard responses, so when a tenant complains there is no proof of when you were told, when you inspected, and when you fixed it
5. 5Verbal rent increases that cannot be enforced because no Section 13 notice was served
6. 6Old pet or occupier bans in tenancy agreements that are now unlawful

Each of these is avoidable with a good process agreed before commencement and a reliable record of what was done and when.

Key takeaways

• The tenancy reforms commenced 1 May 2026. Every landlord in England needs to be operating under them now.
• Section 21 is abolished. Every possession claim needs a Section 8 ground and evidence.
• All tenancies are periodic. Fixed-term ASTs no longer exist for new lets.
• You will have to register every property on the PRS Database — phased rollout from late 2026, mandatory expected ~2027. Prepare the paperwork now.
• You will have to join the Private Rented Sector Ombudsman once the scheme launches (expected ~2028) and comply with its determinations.
• The Decent Homes Standard and Awaab's Law are expected to reach private rentals in later phases (Awaab's Law expected from 2027), with statutory deadlines for hazard response.
• Rent increases are capped to once a year and must be served via Section 13.
• Rental bidding, blanket bans, and unreasonable pet refusals are all unlawful.
• Civil penalties run up to £40,000 and rent repayment orders cover up to 24 months.
• Compliance is now evidence-based — you have to prove it on demand, not just hold the certificates.

This article is for general guidance and applies to England. Regulations differ in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and individual provisions of the Act may have separate commencement dates or transitional rules. Always check the current position with a qualified adviser before serving a notice or taking enforcement action.