Renters Rights Act
Renters Rights Act
March 2025 saw the property market spike due to government intervention to amend the Stamp Duty Land Tax thresholds. This saw large efforts to complete transactions prior to the deadline of 31st of March, which was felt by all of those working in Conveyancing.
As of October 2025, The Renters Rights Act has received Royal Assent which could mean the market is about to react once again. The Act will provide improved rights for renters, which could cause landlords to raise eyebrows as to whether their role as landlord would be worthwhile.
We must assess the impact of the Renters Rights Act in order to see how it may affect the market. The Act is fairly comprehensive with the changes that it is making to renters, but below we have set out a few inclusions that could have the biggest impact.
Abolition of S.21 Housing Act Evictions
Landlords will now only be able to evict tenants for a legitimate reason such as rent arrears and anti-social behaviour. ‘No fault evictions’ will be a thing of the past and Landlords will have to rely on S.8 of the Housing Act, which sets outs the grounds the landlord can rely on. In needing a legal reason to evict, this could lead to increased time frames to evict a tenant.
Limits on Bidding Wars
Before renting a property, landlords can receive numerous applications to live in their property, which has resulted in bidding wars in competitive markets such as London. Renters can pay above the market value as they compete with other applicants, but under the Renters Rights Act this will be prevented. Landlords may perceive this as a capping to their earning potential.
Challenges to Rent Increases
Currently, a landlord can issue a S.13 Notice to the tenant to increase the rent of a property, which can then be challenged. Under the Renters Rights Act, the tenant will have greater scope to appeal the rent increase which can result in a decreased rent, rather than being forced into a period of uncertainty, that may result in ending the tenancy. Once again, this may make being a landlord a slightly less lucrative prospect.
The points mentioned above, alongside many others contained within the Act hold one thing in common; uncertainty for landlords. Interest rates have not been below 4% since 2020, therefore Mortgage payments are still higher than anticipated. Interest rates are still 1.8% above the Bank of England target, meaning costs to maintain the property itself are also on the rise.
With Landlords being faced with high mortgage payments and increased costs, all roads would lead to many being forced to sell and providing a huge shake up to the market.
Whether you are a first-time buyer or an experienced landlord, at Tolhurst Fisher we are ready to assist you in your conveyancing needs.
Author: Jose Ferreira
