The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 2 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026 are the operative instrument for the first large-scale switch-over in England’s private rented sector. From 1 May 2026, the core tenancy reform package takes effect for assured tenancies that are not social housing assured tenancies, bringing the Act’s new private-sector model into day-to-day use. The government’s implementation roadmap identifies 1 May 2026 as the first phase of delivery, and the Act’s explanatory notes say that this phase makes assured tenancies periodic, removes the assured shorthold tenancy category and abolishes section 21. (gov.uk)
For tenants, the immediate legal effect is clearer than the statutory drafting. Most existing assured shorthold tenancies convert into assured periodic tenancies on 1 May 2026, new private tenancies granted on or after that date must also be periodic, and landlords who want possession must rely on a statutory ground rather than the former no-fault route. Government guidance also says current tenants do not need a replacement contract, but landlords or agents must provide the official information sheet for existing written tenancies by 31 May 2026. (gov.uk)
The same commencement date activates the Act’s market-conduct rules. The explanatory notes say Chapter 3 outlaws bans and restrictions aimed at households with children or people receiving benefits, while Chapter 6 requires a specific advertised rent and prohibits inviting, encouraging or accepting offers above that figure. GOV.UK guidance now presents those rules as live from 1 May 2026, with discriminatory terms in superior leases and mortgages cancelled from that date and civil penalties available for breaches. (legislation.gov.uk)
The regulations also do the less visible work that commencement instruments are written for: they decide what happens to cases already in motion. Rent challenges that sit across the changeover are redirected from the old section 22 route to the new tribunal route where appropriate, pre-1 May section 13 notices can continue under the earlier regime until the dispute is resolved or time runs out, and a landlord who already used a contractual rent review before commencement cannot use the new statutory route to create a second increase inside the same 52-week period. That structure is consistent with the policy of sections 6 and 7 of the Act. The explanatory notes say the section 13 notice becomes the only valid route for increasing rent in the private sector, carries a two-month notice period, and allows tenants to challenge the proposed figure against the open-market rent, with the tribunal unable to set a rent above the landlord’s proposal. (legislation.gov.uk)
Two saving provisions matter because they narrow the immediate reach of the new grounds. First, the new sale ground does not apply to legacy assured tenancies entered into before 1 May 2026 where the tenancy was assured but not assured shorthold immediately beforehand. Secondly, student landlords get a one-off transition for the 2026/27 cycle. Official landlord and tenant guidance says existing student tenancies may receive Ground 4A notices between 1 May and 30 July 2026 with two months’ notice, rather than the usual four months, and the Act’s explanatory notes show why a further written-notice window was needed for some shared owners using Ground 1A, because the statutory exemption turns on notice being given to the tenant in writing before the relevant deadline. (gov.uk)
Enforcement is not left until later phases. On 1 May 2026, local housing authorities take on a new general duty to enforce the landlord legislation in their area, rent repayment orders are widened, and superior landlords can now be brought within that regime. The explanatory notes say section 103 overturns the effect of the Supreme Court’s Rakusen v Jepsen judgment by allowing rent repayment orders against superior landlords where they committed the relevant offence, and doubles the maximum recovery from 12 months to two years’ rent. (legislation.gov.uk) The package also strengthens sanctions outside the rent repayment order system. The notes to section 58 say local authorities may impose a financial penalty of up to £40,000 for unlawful eviction or harassment in lieu of prosecution, while the rental bidding rules carry separate financial penalties under section 57. (legislation.gov.uk)
The homelessness provisions show the same transitional method. The Act repeals parts of the Housing Act 1996 connected with how local authorities discharge duties through private rented offers and failures to co-operate. (legislation.gov.uk) This instrument then preserves the earlier position for applicants who accepted a qualifying offer before 1 May 2026, so the change operates prospectively rather than retrospectively. That drafting choice runs throughout the regulations: this is not simply the order that ends section 21, but the legal handover text for courts, tribunals, councils, landlords, agents and tenants. The wider programme remains staggered. The government’s roadmap says the PRS Database is due from late 2026, social rented sector reforms follow in 2027, mandatory landlord ombudsman sign-up in 2028, and Awaab’s Law plus the Decent Homes Standard for the private rented sector still await later commencement. (gov.uk)