The Renters' Rights Act: a landlord's working checklist

Tenancies already running on 1 May 2026

If the tenancy was an assured or assured shorthold tenancy made before 1 May 2026, wholly or partly in writing, the official information sheet was due by 31 May 2026. If it was agreed entirely by word of mouth, written information about its key terms was due by the same date instead. If you gave a valid section 21 or section 8 notice before 1 May 2026 and the tenancy carries on once the notice stops being valid or the court case ends without a possession order, the sheet's deadline is later: one month from that date. If a letting agent manages the property for you, the agent must give the sheet too, even if you have. If you haven't confirmed service, that's the first thing to nail down; if you missed it, give it now and keep proof.

New tenancies (from 1 May 2026)

New tenancies need a written statement of terms, normally given before the tenancy is entered into (a few, such as a tenancy that arises by succession, have 28 days). Keep proof of service.

What it costs to miss

For any of these documents, the council can impose a civil penalty of up to £7,000. If the breach goes on more than 28 days after a penalty (if you appeal, the 28 days run from the end of the appeal), or there is another breach within five years of a penalty, it is an offence: prosecution, or a civil penalty of up to £40,000 instead.

Registration: the dates

Registration for the private rented sector (PRS) database, through the government's 'Register your rental property' service, is due to open on 15 December 2026, starting in the West Midlands; GOV.UK announced it on 9 September 2026. You will be able to register any time from then, but the duty to register is due to start region by region, one a month, and goes by where the property is. The government says that once your region's duty starts you will have three months to register, and landlords actively letting an assured or regulated tenancy must be registered by 14 November 2027 at the latest, which is the South West's deadline: the table below gives your region's.

At first the duty covers homes that are let, or that become let during the rollout; the government says an empty home does not need to be registered yet, and that this will change before you market it. Supported exempt accommodation is excluded.

The government says it will cost £65 a year per property, adjusted pro rata while the service rolls out so that those who sign up first don't pay more. You'll be asked for each home's details and rent and, where they exist or apply, its gas safety record, electrical report and energy performance certificate. For a home that is already let, the draft regulations let these follow within 28 days of the entry.

When the Act's registration rules are brought into force, a council will be able to impose a penalty of up to £7,000 for not registering, and it will be an offence (up to £40,000, or prosecution) to knowingly or recklessly give the database operator information that is false or misleading in a material respect, to let a breach carry on more than 28 days after a penalty (or, if you appeal, after the appeal ends), or to breach the rules again within five years of a penalty. None of this is in force yet: sections 82 and 91 of the Act are in force only for making regulations, and section 92 not at all. The government says councils in a region will be able to start enforcing once its three-month window has passed.

The regulations are still a draft and have not yet been made, so the dates could still move. Mandatory ombudsman membership is expected around 2028.

Rent increases

Rent can now rise no more than once every 52 weeks, with at least two months' notice, through the prescribed Form 4A process; an increase that skips the process isn't binding.