Understanding Your New Additional Rights as a Tenant

The government has been busy in recent months trying to make renting safer and cheaper for the UK’s approximately nine million tenants. How will this affect you? Here’s our guide to the changes. Let’s take a closer look at understanding your new additional rights as a tenant.

Is it getting cheaper to rent a home?

Yes – as of June 1st, 2019 – thanks to the Tenant Fees ban – all renters taking out new tenancies or renewing existing ones only have to pay for certain allowable charges.

What charges should renters expect to pay?

Renters can still expect to pay:

• Monthly rent
• A rental deposit (capped at five weeks’ rent)
• Default fees (charges for things like replacing keys)
• A refundable holding deposit (capped at one week’s rent)
• Cost for any services provided as per their contract, such as communal broadband

How will the Tenant Fees Ban help me?

As of 2020, the Tenant Fees Ban covers all tenancies, regardless of when they started or were renewed.

• This will save tenants hundreds of pounds when they next move home (between £230 and £400 on average)
• It will make it easier and cheaper to move between rented properties

Example

If your new rented property costs £400 a month, after June, the most you can be charged will be the first month’s rent and a five-week deposit (£500). So, in total, it will cost £900 up front to move in.

Before you collect the keys, the agent may ask for a refundable ‘holding deposit’, which in this case would be £100.

Since 1 May 2026, landlords and letting agents in England cannot ask for, encourage or accept rent before the tenancy agreement has been signed. After it has been signed, they can usually ask for up to one month’s rent before the tenancy starts.

Will rent increase?

It has been predicted that some landlords and letting agents may charge higher rents. To cover their ‘lost’ fees, but that remains to be proved.

Some agents did try to find a way around the ban, asking tenants to renew their contracts before June 1st, even though they were not due for renewal until afterwards.

In England, most private renters now have assured periodic tenancies, and rent increases can usually only happen once a year with at least two months’ notice.

Is this only in England?

A similar fees ban has been in operation within Scotland for some time, and a fees ban went live in September 2019 in Wales. Northern Ireland is consulting on its proposals.

Is the eviction process getting fairer?

Yes. The eviction process has now changed significantly in England.

What’s the current situation?

Landlords in England can no longer use a Section 21 ‘no-fault’ eviction notice. Since 1 May 2026, they need a valid legal ground for possession.

What would this mean?

A tenant can now only be evicted in England if the landlord can rely on a legal ground for possession, for example, serious rent arrears, anti-social behaviour, wanting to move into the property themselves, or wanting to sell it.

Scotland has had a different system for several years. Wales and Northern Ireland have their own separate legal frameworks.

What happens if my property is damp?

Following a new renting law brought in during March 2019. Landlords must now ensure that a rental home is ‘fit for human habitation’. This means a property cannot have any serious defects.

What responsibilities does my landlord have?

A landlord has a number of responsibilities, including:

• Making good repairs
• Ensuring the property is free from damp;
• Maintaining adequate natural lighting, ventilation, water supply, and sanitation
• Providing acceptable food preparation areas, or, in other words, a decent kitchen
• Following a landlord’s health and safety checklist

Tenants are now able to take landlords to court if they contravene these basic minimum standards.

Recent government damp and mould guidance has also reinforced that damp and mould should be treated as a serious health risk and dealt with quickly.

This housing standards bill covers England, but similar legislation is being considered in Wales. Corresponding regulations have already been introduced in Northern Ireland and Scotland.

How can I spot rogue landlords?

The government has set up The Database of Rogue Landlords and Property Agents, but only local authorities can make entries.

That national database in England is still not open for the public to search directly. However, the government has confirmed that a new Private Rented Sector Database will begin rolling out from late 2026.

In the capital, the same information is available to the public via The Mayor of London’s online checker service.

Ministers have also released £2 million to fund the policing of the system, which is designed to ban and also name and shame those who commit serious offences.

What are the landlord offences?

Tenants have many rights – it’s essential these are met. Serious landlord offences include:

• Disregarding fire and gas safety regulations
• Colluding in housing benefit fraud
• Ignoring council improvement notices
• Collusion in cannabis cultivation or drug dealing
• Poor management of Houses of Multiple Occupancy (the official term for bedsits)
• Illegal evictions and violent or sexual offences against tenants

In Wales, rogue landlords are policed through the Rent Smart Wales registration scheme. While Scotland has its own landlord registration and enforcement systems. In Northern Ireland, all landlords must be registered with a central, publicly available database.

Tenants deserve the facts; this ensures a smooth tenancy and reduces the risk of nasty surprises. Getting a property report can provide you with details about a particular area, such as crime rates. After all, you may not be buying there, but it’s still your home!

Last Updated: June 26th, 2026