By Griskin ,Published 7 May 2026
Reading time: 9 minutes
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 commenced on Friday 1 May 2026. It is the most significant overhaul of England's private rented sector in over thirty years, and most of the commentary published in the lead-up has been written for the small-portfolio buy-to-let landlord. That commentary is largely accurate, and largely irrelevant for the audience Griskin advises.
For Prime and Super-Prime London landlords, for international owners holding UK residential property as a part-time residence or as an investment, and for tenants in this segment of the market, the Act creates a different set of practical considerations. This piece sets out, plainly, what changed on 1 May, what is still to come, and what owners and prospective buyers in the Prime London rental market should actually do about it.
This is a Griskin commentary, not legal advice. Specific tenancy decisions should be taken with a qualified property solicitor. The interpretation below is offered as a strategic frame.
What changed on 1 May 2026?
Six material changes took effect on the commencement date.
Section 21 no-fault evictions were abolished. Landlords can no longer serve a Section 21 notice. To recover possession of a property, a landlord must now use a Section 8 notice citing one of the prescribed grounds under Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988, as amended by the Act.
All assured shorthold tenancies converted automatically to assured periodic tenancies. There are no longer fixed-term tenancies in the assured tenancy framework. Existing fixed-term ASTs converted on 1 May regardless of how long was left to run. New tenancies created after 1 May are periodic from the outset, with rental periods limited to one month maximum.
Rent increases were restricted. Landlords can only increase rent once per twelve-month period, by service of a Section 13 notice giving at least two months' notice (up from one month previously). Tenants have the right to challenge any increase at the First-tier Tribunal.
Rental bidding wars were banned. Landlords and letting agents must not invite or accept offers above the advertised asking rent. The advertised rent is now effectively the ceiling.
Deposits were capped at one month's rent, with the broader Tenant Fees Act 2019 framework remaining in place. Landlords cannot demand more than one month's rent in advance from a tenant, although tenants may volunteer to pay more if they wish.
Tenants gained a right to request a pet, which landlords cannot unreasonably refuse. Landlords may require pet damage insurance as a condition of consent.
In addition, all landlords with existing tenancies must provide tenants with a government-published Information Sheet by 31 May 2026. New tenancies require a written statement of terms before commencement. Failure to provide either carries a civil penalty of up to £7,000 for a first offence and up to £40,000 for a second.
What is still to come
The Act is being implemented in stages. Phase one commenced on 1 May 2026. Phase two is scheduled for late 2026 and 2027, and phase three for an as-yet-unconfirmed date. The provisions still ahead include:
The Private Rented Sector Database, requiring all landlords in England to register and provide property and contact information. Regional rollout is expected from late 2026 with full launch in 2027.
The Private Rented Sector Ombudsman, an independent dispute resolution body that all landlords will be required to join. Likely 2027 or 2028.
The Decent Homes Standard applied to private rentals, setting minimum housing quality standards. Currently scheduled for 2035, with intermediate provisions expected before then.
Awaab's Law extended to private landlords, requiring landlords to address reported health hazards within prescribed timescales. Currently applies to social housing only; extension to the private rented sector is planned but not yet timetabled.
The practical implication for owners is that 1 May 2026 was the start of the transition, not the end. Further compliance obligations will continue to come into force over the next several years.
What does this mean for Prime London landlords specifically?
The Act applies uniformly across the private rented sector in England, but its practical impact varies materially by market segment. For Prime and Super-Prime London landlords, three considerations matter most.
The first is that fixed-term tenancies are gone. The Prime London rental market has historically operated on twelve-month, eighteen-month, and twenty-four-month fixed-term agreements, particularly for corporate lets, diplomatic lets, and high-value family lettings. As of 1 May, these structures no longer exist within the assured tenancy framework. All such lettings now operate as monthly periodic tenancies with the tenant entitled to give two months' notice at any time.
The practical consequence is income predictability. A landlord who previously expected eighteen months of rental income at a known rate now has, in legal terms, a tenancy that the tenant can terminate at month three, month four, or any other point with two months' notice. In a well-functioning market, this matters less than it sounds; tenants in this segment generally remain for the duration they intended. In a softening rental market, it matters more, because tenants gain optionality that the landlord cannot reciprocate.
The second is that rent increases are now restricted. In the Prime London rental market, where rents have risen significantly above pre-pandemic levels and many landlords have used periodic uplifts to keep pace, the new framework limits any increase to once per twelve months and gives tenants the right to challenge. The mechanism for setting market rent at renewal has changed. Landlords whose strategy relied on aggressive renewal pricing will need to revisit that strategy.
The third is that the abolition of Section 21 changes the risk profile of letting in this market. Recovering possession now requires a Section 8 notice with valid grounds, which means a tenant in default, a landlord who genuinely intends to sell or move family in (Ground 1, available only after the tenancy has exceeded twelve months), or one of the other prescribed grounds. The court process for Section 8 possession is materially slower and more contested than the Section 21 route. For landlords, this is not a fatal change, but it is a real one. The exposure to a problem tenant is now structurally higher.
What does this mean for international owners?
International owners of Prime London residential property holding via direct rental face the same legal framework as domestic landlords, with a few additional considerations.
Practical management complexity has increased. Compliance with the new framework, including the Information Sheet, written statements of terms, Section 13 procedures, Section 8 possession claims, and the forthcoming PRS Database registration, requires either a competent UK-based managing agent or a level of administrative attention that international owners often cannot provide directly. The cost of professional management has not yet adjusted upward to reflect the new compliance burden, but it will. Owners should expect managing agent fees to rise.
The economic case for direct rental ownership has weakened at the margins. For an international owner who lets out their UK residence while living abroad, the combined effect of higher SDLT (the 2 percent non-resident surcharge plus the 5 percent additional dwelling surcharge), the abolition of non-dom tax status, the introduction of the Renters' Rights Act compliance framework, and the prospective PRS Database, Ombudsman, and Decent Homes obligations adds up to a materially less attractive holding proposition than it was five years ago. None of this is fatal. All of it changes the calculation.
For owners considering selling rather than continuing to let, the Act does not directly affect a vacant possession sale. Where a property is currently let, landlords seeking to sell with vacant possession can rely on Ground 1A of Section 8, the new ground for sale, available after the tenancy has exceeded twelve months. The notice period is four months, and the seller must follow a specific procedural route. This route is workable but adds time and process to what was previously a faster transaction under Section 21.
What does this mean for prospective buyers?
For buyers considering acquiring Prime London residential property as a buy-to-let or as a part-time residence with rental periods, the Act changes the calculation in three ways.
Yield expectations should be adjusted slightly downward to reflect the higher cost and lower flexibility of letting under the new framework. The exact magnitude depends on the property and the management structure, but a 25 to 75 basis point downward adjustment to assumed net yield is a reasonable starting frame.
Tenant covenant strength matters more. In a regime where Section 21 is not available and Section 8 possession claims are slower, the quality of tenant matters more than it did. Robust referencing, financial verification, and ideally relationships with corporate or diplomatic letting channels become more important.
The case for buying with vacant possession (rather than buying tenanted) has strengthened. Where a buyer plans to occupy or to let on their own terms, acquiring a property already encumbered with a sitting tenant under the new framework introduces complications that did not exist under the previous Section 21 regime. Buyers should assume that taking on an existing tenancy means taking on a tenancy that is harder to bring to an end than it would have been before May 2026.
The bottom line
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 is a meaningful structural shift in the UK private rented sector. For most landlords most of the time, it changes process and compliance more than it changes economics. For Prime London landlords, international owners, and prospective buyers, the cumulative effect of the Act, alongside the SDLT changes of the last two years and the abolition of non-dom status, is a market that requires more deliberate planning than it did five years ago.
None of this argues against ownership of Prime London residential property. Plenty of it argues for getting the structure, the management, and the buy-or-rent decision right at the outset, rather than discovering the implications mid-tenancy.
If you are reviewing your Prime London rental portfolio, considering an acquisition, or weighing whether to continue letting versus selling under the new framework, you can reach Griskin at info@griskin.co.uk or +44 7427 533 006. Initial conversations are confidential and without obligation.
