The Renters Right Bill was back in the House of Lords on 14 October 2025 for the final stage of consideration of amendments. It is usual for there to be some back and forth with the House of Commons where the bill passes between the two parliamentary chambers. All of the initial House of Lords amendments were overturned in the House of Commons in September and it looks like the government is sticking stubbornly to its agenda. The bill is expected to receive Royal Assent in November 2025 and will apply to England only. Before looking at the knowns and unknowns and likely timescale for implementation, here’s a brief re-cap on the main provisions of the bill.
Assured Shorthold Tenancies will no longer be permitted and the default tenancy in the private rented sector will become an Assured Periodic Tenancy known as Private Residential Tenancies. All existing ASTs will convert to the new tenancy on a yet unconfirmed tenancy implementation date. Fixed terms will be a thing of the past; there will be no end date and tenants will be able to give two months’ notice at any time – even from day one. If a landlord wishes to end the tenancy, they must use one of the grounds akin to the current section 8 process, section 21 no fault eviction is being abolished. If the tenant does not vacate at the end of the notice period, the landlord will need to go to court.
Importantly some grounds are new, most notably grounds 1 and 1A, which will allow the landlord to seek possession if they wish to sell or they or a close family member wish to move into the property. They must give 4 months’ notice and the date of termination cannot be less than 12 months after the start of the tenancy. They will not be able to re-let the property for a period of 12 months. Ground 4A will allow the landlord to give four months’ notice if the property is an HMO, let to full time students and they will be replaced by more full time students in line with the academic year. So, the tenancy would end between June and September. Ground 8 for rent arrears has been extended to three months of arrears – currently two months – and the notice period will no longer be two weeks, but four weeks. All of these grounds are mandatory, so if the circumstances can be proven to the court and the procedure has been followed correctly, a judge would have to order possession.
The maximum rental period and rent that can be demanded in advance will be one month. Advanced rent will not be capped for existing tenancies. Landlords will be forbidden from accepting bids over the asking price. Only one rent increase will be permitted per annum using a process similar to the current section 13 procedure. If the tenant disagrees, they will be able to appeal to a tribunal, which will decide the market rent or the rent proposed by the landlord, whichever is lower. An important change is that the rent increase will take effect from the date of the tribunal’s determination. Many expect the system to be overwhelmed and to have long delays.
