Guides
The Renters’ Rights Act 2025: what it means for your software
The rules changed in 2026. Software that only records compliance isn’t enough any more — here’s why.
What changed
The rules got stricter in 2026
The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 reformed private renting in England, and its headline change — abolishing Section 21 “no-fault” evictions — took effect on 1 May 2026. Every tenancy is now periodic, rent bidding is banned, deposits still have to be protected within 30 days, and no more than one month's rent can be taken upfront.
None of that is new information if you're running an agency. What's less obvious is what it actually demands from the software you use to run it.
Why this matters for software specifically
Recording compliance isn’t the same as enforcing it
A record isn't a safeguard
A system that lets you type in a deposit protection date after the fact is just a filing cabinet. It didn't stop the deadline being missed — it just wrote down that it was.
Section 8 needs a real, evidenced ground
Ending a tenancy now requires a specific legal ground, not just an expired term. Software that doesn't ask for and track that ground doesn't reflect how tenancies can be ended any more.
Periodic tenancies change what “end date” even means
Systems built around fixed-term ASTs need genuine rework to correctly handle tenancies with no fixed end — not just a cosmetic label change.
The practical takeaway
What to actually check for
When you're looking at software after this change, the useful question isn't “does it mention the Renters’ Rights Act” — plenty of marketing pages do. It's whether the actual workflow makes it structurally difficult to skip a required step, not just possible to record that you didn't.