The Renters’ Right Act 2025
On Monday 27 October the Renters Right Act 2025 received royal assent and became a binding act of Parliament (‘the Act’). Amongst many changes the Act abolishes accelerated possession claims and no fault evictions via ‘section 21’ (form 6A) notices. This will have significant impact on landlords, letting agents and property investors.
Confusingly, although the Act is now an act of parliament, the provisions are not yet binding as the implementation of the Act has to be confirmed by the Housing Minister. At present there is no indication when the content will be fully in force and implemented. Government has previously indicated some prior notice will be given, and there is some suggestion this might be in the region of 3-6 months given the scale of change, but this is uncertain.
The core impact for landlords longer term is that where there is no agreement and a tenant fails to leave a property, to regain possession court proceedings will need to be issued and there will be at least one court hearing. This change alone will certainly mean additional time is taken for claims to reach conclusion in comparison to the existing accelerated possession claim ‘no fault’ route, which will cease to exist. We expect claims to take in the region of 6-12 months, although that is a best guess estimate. This will no doubt frustrate landlords and property professionals, but is the reality of the impact of the legislative change. The practical upshot is that it will be harder to evict tenants, and will be more important that ever that claims pursued by landlords are successful. Otherwise the loss of time alone is likely to run to many months, with the risk that rent may not be received during that period. Defective notices and/or court proceedings will therefore have far greater impact, and there will be renewed need for focus on getting claims right first time.
The Act confirms that the legislation will apply to existing tenancies and it will not be possible to serve a section 21 notice on an existing tenant when the Act is implemented. We cannot currently say when this will take place but the key point in the meantime is landlords and agents can currently pursue claims via the accelerated possession process. In this context landlords would be well advised to pursue any possible claims now, immediately, before the Act is fully implemented and the process changes and becomes more complex and time consuming. Our view is that one reason for the delay in implementation of the Act is to allow the courts sufficient time to ensure there are resources available to handle the increased claims and hearing volumes. This offers a small window of opportunity before the position changes, and the Act is fully implemented.
Our property litigation team handle these claims nationally and are specialists in this area of work. We would be happy to discuss any aspect with you and to advance claims both before and following the implementation of the changes as above. Don’t hesitate to contact our team if we can assist you.
