The Renters' Rights Act: a self-managing landlord's guide

The Renters' Rights Act replaces the assured shorthold tenancy regime with a single system of periodic assured tenancies, abolishes Section 21 no-fault eviction, introduces a national landlord and property database, requires membership of an approved redress scheme, and tightens the rules on rent increases, pets and discrimination. Provisions commence in stages, and existing tenancies convert to the new system on the relevant commencement date rather than at renewal.

The practical effect is simple: the paperwork behind a tenancy is now the difference between being able to regain possession or raise the rent, and not.

Every assured tenancy is periodic. Tenants may end the tenancy at any time with two months' notice. There is no renewal event, so the old cycle of renewal fees and re-signing disappears — but so does the certainty of a twelve-month term. Self-managing landlords should keep marketing material, inventories and compliance certificates ready to move at short notice, and monitor void risk continuously rather than annually.

With Section 21 gone, possession runs through the statutory grounds. The most commonly used are:

• Selling the property — available after the tenancy has run for a qualifying initial period, with an extended notice period.
• Landlord or close family moving in — same qualifying period and notice constraints, and restrictions on re-letting afterwards.
• Serious rent arrears — a higher arrears threshold and a longer notice period than under the previous regime.
• Anti-social behaviour and breach of tenancy — evidence-led grounds where contemporaneous records matter enormously.

Each ground requires the correct notice, correctly served, and supporting evidence. A missing gas safety record or unprotected deposit can derail an otherwise valid claim.

Rent may be increased once per year via a Section 13 notice giving the required period of notice. Rent review clauses that bypass this process are not effective, and tenants can challenge a proposed increase at the First-tier Tribunal. The tribunal decides on open-market rent, so landlords who hold local comparable evidence — the sort of market data NestIQ surfaces per postcode — are far better placed than those working from a guess.

The Tenant Fees Act limits what can be charged at the start of a tenancy, and the reforms tighten enforcement further. Permitted payments are:

• Rent — with limits on demanding large amounts of rent in advance.
• A tenancy deposit, capped at five weeks' rent (six weeks where annual rent is £50,000 or more).
• A holding deposit, capped at one week's rent and refundable in defined circumstances.
• Default fees such as replacement keys or interest on late rent, at cost and evidenced.
• Payments on variation, assignment or early termination, within statutory caps.

Charging tenants for referencing, inventories, check-in, admin or renewals is prohibited. Those costs sit with the landlord — which is exactly why an agent's fee schedule matters to your net yield.

A typical full-management agreement is 10% of rent plus VAT, with a tenant-find fee of around one month's rent, an inventory at £150–£300, Right to Rent checks at £30–£60 per tenant, arrangement fees of £60–£120 for each compliance certificate, and a renewal fee of £90–£150. On a £1,200 pcm property that is comfortably £3,000 or more in the first year.

None of those services transfer legal responsibility. The landlord remains liable for gas safety, electrical safety, EPC provision, deposit protection and Right to Rent. What the fee buys is administration — reminders, document storage, evidence trails and market data — which is precisely what a purpose-built platform does for a subscription rather than a percentage.

Landlords must register themselves and each property on the national database and join an approved redress scheme. Compliance information is attached to the entry, and local authorities gain enforcement powers with civil penalties for non-registration. Keeping certificates in date and in one place is no longer just good practice — it is the record you will be asked to produce.

The tenancy rules changed; the safety paperwork did not go away. Each item below is expanded in our UK landlord compliance checklist, and the electrical report has its own deep dive in the EICR certificate guide.

• Gas Safety Record — annually, served to the tenant within 28 days and at the start of a tenancy.
• EICR — at least every five years, with remedial work evidenced.
• EPC — valid certificate provided before letting, with minimum energy efficiency standards observed.
• Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms — installed and tested at the start of each tenancy.
• Deposit protection — in an approved scheme within 30 days, with prescribed information served.
• Right to Rent — checks completed and retained for the duration of the tenancy in England.
• Licensing — HMO or selective licensing where the local authority requires it.
• How to Rent guide — the current version served at the start of the tenancy.