New Landlord Rules 2026: Everything That Changed on 1 May

England only

1. Deposit protection now blocks section 8 too

in force

The one I’d check today if I checked nothing else. An unprotected deposit used to block a section 21 notice. It now blocks possession on section 8 grounds as well, with only the two antisocial behaviour grounds excepted.

So you can have a tenant four months into arrears, a textbook ground 8 case, and no possession order — because a deposit from 2019 was never protected or the prescribed information was never served. It’s a hard bar, not something the judge weighs up.

Curable: protect it late or return it, then proceed. But cure it before you serve, not after. And curing the bar doesn’t stop the tenant claiming one to three times the deposit separately.

2. Your rent review clause stopped working

in force

Rent can only be raised by section 13 notice now. Contractual rent review clauses — the annual RPI uplift, the fixed percentage — have no effect, whatever your agreement says and whenever it was signed.

Landlords who put rents up this year on the strength of a clause have imposed an increase that probably isn’t valid. If you’re now counting those extra pounds as arrears, stop and check before you go anywhere near a court. Full detail: section 13 rent increases.

3. Selling? You can’t re-let for twelve months

in force

Take possession under ground 1A because you intend to sell, and a restricted period begins the day you serve notice and runs for twelve months from the date the notice expires. With four months’ notice, that’s around sixteen months where the property cannot be let, licensed for money, or even marketed to let.

On my Hastings three-bed at £1,500 a month, twelve months of that costs about £20,800 once you add council tax on an empty property, insurance and standing charges. And you carry it even if the sale falls through. Breaching it risks up to £40,000 and a rent repayment order of up to two years’ rent.

4. Ground 8 moved from two months to three

in force

The mandatory arrears ground now needs three months’, or thirteen weeks’, arrears — and arrears attributable to an outstanding Universal Credit housing payment are disregarded entirely. A tenant has to be substantially further behind before you have a mandatory ground, and the clock effectively runs slower where UC is involved.

5. Every tenancy became periodic

in force

Fixed terms are of no effect. Every assured shorthold tenancy converted automatically into a periodic assured tenancy on 1 May — no action needed, no re-papering, no new agreements. If an agent charged you to reissue agreements, that wasn’t a legal requirement.

Rent periods are now capped at a month, so quarterly and annual rent arrangements no longer work. And tenants give two months’ notice unless you agree less in writing.

6. Section 21 is gone

in force

No-fault possession no longer exists. Every possession claim needs a ground, evidence for that ground, and the right notice period. Pre-existing section 21 notices only survived if the claim form had already been requested before 1 May; everything else expired on 31 July 2026. See the section 8 guide.

7. You can’t refuse benefit tenants or families

in force

Discrimination on the basis of benefits status or having children is unlawful, and terms in superior leases, mortgages or insurance policies purporting to prohibit such lets are of no effect. You can still assess affordability and reference normally — the Act preserves that expressly. What you can’t do is filter at the advert.

Check your listings and any standing instructions with agents. “Professionals only” and “no children” in a property advert are now enforcement risks.

8. Pets: 28 days to answer, and no charging for it

in force

Tenants can request a pet; consent can’t be unreasonably refused; you have 28 days to reply in writing. Blanket no-pets clauses are overridden.

And the widely-repeated error: you cannot require pet insurance and you cannot take a pet deposit. That provision was removed from the Bill before enactment. Nor can you add pet rent. You’re left with the ordinary deposit and a good inventory. More on pet requests.

9. Rent in advance capped at one month

in force

You cannot ask for or accept more than one month’s rent in advance before a tenancy begins, and no rent at all can be requested before the agreement is signed. Six or twelve months up front — long used as a workaround for thin referencing — is no longer available.

10. Rental bidding is banned

in force

You must advertise a rent and you cannot accept offers above it. Inviting competing bids, or letting an agent run an informal auction on your behalf, is prohibited.

11. You had to send the information sheet

in force

Every tenant on a tenancy that existed on 1 May had to be given the government’s information sheet by 31 May 2026. Penalty up to £7,000 per breach — and it’s assessed per tenancy, so a portfolio multiplies quickly.

That deadline has passed. If you missed it, the duty continues, which means you can still stop the breach by serving it today: what to do if you missed it.

What did not change

Still true	Detail
Gas, EICR and EPC duties	Unchanged. Still required, still need serving on the tenant
Deposit cap	Five weeks under six months’ annual rent — unchanged
Right to rent checks	Unchanged
Repairing obligations	Unchanged for now. Awaab’s Law for private rentals is not in force
Selective licensing	Unchanged. Council schemes operate as before
Referencing and affordability	Expressly preserved

And to be explicit about the things you may have read are required: the PRS database does not exist yet and you cannot register on it, and the landlord ombudsman is not operating — expected around 2028. Anyone telling you to sign up to either today is mistaken. Full commencement timeline.