Renters' Rights Act 2026: What Tenants in England Should Document Now

If you rent privately in England, your tenancy changed on 1 May 2026, whether you noticed or not. Most fixed-term tenancies became rolling ones overnight. "No fault" Section 21 evictions ended. Rent can only go up once a year. And more changes are on the way, including a landlord ombudsman and new rules on damp and mould.

A lot of that shifts power towards tenants. But rights are only as useful as the evidence behind them. If you ever need to challenge a rent rise, push for a repair, or get your deposit back, the person with the better records usually wins. This guide covers what changed and what's worth keeping a record of.

It applies to private renting in England. Different rules apply if you rent from a council or housing association, live in student halls, or are a lodger, and Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have their own systems.

What changed on 1 May 2026

From the government's overview for tenants:

• Rolling tenancies. Most existing assured shorthold tenancies automatically became assured periodic tenancies. They run week to week or month to month, with no end date. If your agreement has an end date in it, that date no longer applies.
• No more Section 21. Landlords now need a legal reason, called a ground for possession, to end your tenancy, and they have to use the correct forms and notice. The notice is usually four months, though it can be shorter for some grounds.
• Rent increases once a year. Not in the first 12 months of a new tenancy, only with a Form 4A notice, and with at least two months' notice. You can challenge an increase that's above market rent.
• Ending it yourself. You can leave by giving two months' notice in writing, and a text or email counts.
• Rent in advance is capped. A landlord can't take rent before you've signed, and after signing can ask for at most one month in advance.
• Pets. You can ask to keep one. Your landlord must consider the request and should give a reason if they refuse.

Existing tenants with a written agreement didn't need a new one. Instead, landlords had to give them a government Information Sheet about the changes by 31 May 2026.

What's still coming

Some parts of the Act arrive later:

• Register your rental property. A national register of landlords and rented homes starts rolling out by region from 15 December 2026, beginning in the West Midlands. Landlords will need to be registered to use certain eviction grounds.
• A landlord ombudsman. All private landlords will have to join a new Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman, which tenants can use for free to complain about their landlord.
• Awaab's Law and the Decent Homes Standard. Both are being extended to private renting. Awaab's Law will set time limits for landlords to deal with serious hazards like damp and mould, once the regulations setting those timescales are made.

That last one is the reason to start documenting repairs properly now.

1. The condition of the home

Everything about deposits still depends on one comparison: the state of the place when you moved in against the state when you left. That hasn't changed. Your deposit still has to be protected in a government-approved scheme within 30 days, and returned within 10 days of you and your landlord agreeing how much you get back.

If you didn't photograph the place when you moved in, do it now. It's not as strong as move-in photos, but a dated record of the flat's condition today is much better than nothing, especially if your tenancy now has no end date and you might be there for years.

We have a room-by-room shot list in move-in and move-out photos, including what to photograph in kitchens and bathrooms, where most deposit deductions come from.

2. Repairs, damp, and mould

This is where good records will matter most over the next few years.

The government's guide says Awaab's Law will let new requirements be set so that private landlords have to deal with hazards such as damp and mould within a specified time, and that tenants will be able to take landlords to court if they don't. Time limits only help if you can show when you reported the problem and what it looked like.

So, when something needs fixing:

• Photograph it the day you notice it. A wide shot showing where it is in the room, and a close-up. For mould, include something for scale.
• Report it in writing. Email or the agent's portal, not just a phone call. The message itself is your dated record of when the landlord knew.
• Photograph it again as it changes. Mould that spreads over three weeks tells a clearer story in three dated photos than in a paragraph.
• Photograph the repair, or the lack of one, when the deadline you were given passes.

Make sure the dates can't be argued with. Your phone stores the capture date inside each photo, and you can check it with an EXIF viewer. If you want the date visible on the photo itself, a timestamp camera like the TimeStamp Camera app prints it on as you shoot, and the free browser tool can add it to photos you've already taken.

3. Rent and notices

Keep every notice your landlord or agent sends, as the original email, letter, or PDF, not a screenshot of it:

• The Information Sheet you should have received by 31 May 2026. If you never got one, note that too.
• Any Form 4A rent increase notice. The date it arrived matters, because it has to give you at least two months.
• Any notice seeking possession, with the ground it gives.
• Your own notice to leave, if you give one, and proof of when you sent it.

If you're asked for more than one month's rent in advance, or asked to bid above the advertised rent, keep the advert and the message. Both are now against the rules.

4. Moving out

When you do leave, the old advice still holds: clean, empty the place, and take the same photos from the same spots as your move-in set. Photograph the meters on your last day and the keys when you hand them back.

If there's a disagreement, remember how these things get settled. Discussing disputes over pet damage, the government's guide notes that whether it goes to the new ombudsman or to court, the final decision will be based on the evidence provided by both parties. That's true of any condition dispute, and your photos are your half of that evidence.

Keeping it all somewhere safe

A tenancy with no end date could last years. Store everything in one folder, in the cloud or somewhere other than your phone alone: photos, emails, notices, and a short note of dates. When it's time to send a batch of photos to your landlord, a deposit scheme, or the ombudsman, photo to PDF turns them into one file in your browser.

Where to get help

If you think your landlord isn't following the new rules, Shelter and Citizens Advice can help, and your local council has new powers to investigate and take action. The government's overview for tenants is also worth reading in full.

Sources: GOV.UK, "Renters' Rights Act overview for tenants" and "Guide to the Renters' Rights Act"; GOV.UK Housing Hub, "Get ready: Register your rental property service"; GOV.UK, "Tenancy deposit protection."