Breaking Property News 13/5/26
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Renters’ Rights Act: What Estate Agents Need to Understand About the Tenant Impact
Author Andrew Stanton Editor EAN
The Renters’ Rights Act represents the biggest structural shift to the private rented sector in decades, and while much of the conversation has focused on landlord compliance, the reality is that tenants will also experience major behavioural and operational changes across the lettings market.
For agents, understanding how tenants are likely to respond under the new framework will become increasingly important.
The abolition of Section 21 is understandably the headline reform. Tenants will gain significantly greater security, with landlords no longer able to end tenancies without relying on specific legal grounds. The move away from fixed-term ASTs towards rolling periodic tenancies also fundamentally changes how tenants interact with rental property.
On paper, this creates a more stable and flexible rental environment. Tenants will have the ability to remain in properties for longer periods, challenge poor conditions with less fear of retaliatory eviction, and leave properties with notice when circumstances change.
However, the market consequences are unlikely to be entirely one-sided.
As possession becomes more regulated and reliant on Section 8 grounds, many landlords are expected to become increasingly selective during tenant onboarding. Referencing standards are already tightening across parts of the market, particularly among self-managing landlords concerned about longer possession timelines and court delays.
For agents, this could mean:
- Greater pressure on pre-tenancy due diligence
- Increased scrutiny around affordability and employment stability
- More reliance on guarantors and rent protection products
- Longer average tenancy durations reducing churn-based income
The shift to periodic tenancies may also reshape tenant expectations around flexibility. While tenants gain the freedom to leave with notice rather than waiting for a fixed term to expire, landlords lose a degree of certainty around occupancy periods and income forecasting. ()
The Act also introduces wider tenant protections that agents will need to operationalise carefully.
These include:
- Restrictions on rental bidding wars
- Limits on rent increases to once annually
- Greater rights for tenants to request pets
- Stronger protections for families and benefit recipients
- Expanded property condition obligations under the Decent Homes Standard and Awaab’s Law ()
For professional agents, many of these measures will simply reinforce best practice processes already in place. However, for parts of the sector still relying on outdated tenancy management systems, the operational adjustment could be significant.
There is also a wider supply question hanging over the reforms.
A number of landlords have already exited the market due to rising regulation, taxation and compliance costs. If supply continues to tighten while tenant demand remains elevated, tenants may paradoxically face increased competition despite stronger legal protections.
This is where agents may become more strategically important than ever.
The role of the letting agent increasingly shifts from simple intermediary to compliance manager, risk adviser and tenancy stability operator. The firms that adapt fastest operationally — particularly around compliance workflows, communication and evidence-based tenancy management — are likely to strengthen landlord retention in the years ahead.
The Renters’ Rights Act is not simply a tenant protection bill. It is a redesign of how the private rented sector functions commercially, legally and operationally.
And while tenants will undoubtedly gain greater security, the market itself is likely to become more selective, more compliance-driven, and potentially more competitive at the point of entry.
Andrew Stanton Executive Editor – moving property and proptech forward. PropTech-X
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