The Renters Rights Bill continues to make steady progress through parliament. On 22 April, it began its report stage in the House of Lords, and peers are due to complete its final committee stage sitting on 22 May. It amounts to the biggest change to housing regulation in England for 35 years.

I’m going to give you a summary of the main provisions in the bill, key concerns for landlords, efforts to bring about amendments and what we know about implementation once it becomes law. The default tenancy will become a periodic assured tenancy with a maximum rental period of one month – also the maximum rent in advance that landlords will be able to request. Whilst it is good practice to provide a tenancy agreement, the law will require that a written statement will be mandatory – organisations like the NRLA will provide templates that ensure you are compliant.

Tenants will be able to end the tenancy by giving the landlord two months’ notice. Landlords can end the tenancy by using specific grounds under section 8 of the 1988 Housing Act which are being amended. Section 21 so-called no fault eviction will be abolished.

Landlords wishing to sell their property or move in will need to use the ‘landlord circumstance’ grounds 1 or 1A giving four months’ notice. The earliest they can require the tenant to move out is 12 months into the tenancy contract. They would then be prohibited from letting the property for 12 months.

Another key change will be for student lets. Where the tenancy is for full time students, the landlord will have the right to end the tenancy between 1 June and 30 September with 4 months’ notice. However, this will only apply to houses in multiple occupation which is defined as 3 or more people living in 2 or more households. The tenancy cannot be set up more than 6 months in advance.