Your rights as a renter: The key changes coming in and how they affect pet owners and benefit claimants

• New rules affecting landlords and their tenants are set to come into force soon
• They have been drawn up to protect people renting privately
• The changes include greater rights for families and pet owners
• Notice periods for both tenants and their landlords will also be affected

The Renters’ Rights Bill will deliver one of the biggest shake-ups the UK’s property rental market has ever witnessed.

With more than five million households across the country privately renting, it promises to have a huge impact on a large proportion of the population.

The new legislation is currently going through the House of Lords and could receive Royal Assent before MPs break up for the summer, or soon after they return.

That means the new laws, giving renters greater rights, are likely to come into effect any time from the end of summer 2025 to early 2026.

Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla, said: “The new Renters’ Rights Bill will improve standards for renters.

“Key changes include banning rental bidding wars, abolishing section 21 or no-fault evictions and introducing a landlord ombudsman to resolve the disputes between landlords and tenants.

“It will also introduce a Decent Homes Standard, which means that all rental properties must be of a minimum standard.”

Below are some of the key changes being made and how they might affect you, if you are one of the estimated 5.4 million households in the UK privately renting.

Pet owners

The new rules coming in will strengthen the rights of tenants to request a pet in the property.

Any request must be considered on a case-by-case basis by the landlord, who cannot ‘unreasonably’ refuse permission.

If a tenant feels their landlord has unreasonably refused their request, they can complain to the Private Rented Sector Ombudsman or take their case to court.

Landlords will be able to require tenants to take out pet insurance to cover any damage to the property.

Families with children and people on benefits

Lanlords will not be able to discriminate against families with children or people receiving benefits.

Although they will still be able to decide who they let their property to, they must do so based on suitability and affordability, and they cannot rule out a prospective tenant on the grounds they have children or are claiming benefits.

The new rules are designed to prevent both obviously discriminatory ‘no DSS’ adverts and ‘indirect’ practices which purposely prevent families or people receiving benefits from renting a property.

Landlords breaching these rules could be fined up to £7,000.

No fault evictions and notice periods

The headline change within the new legislation is the abolition of section 21 evictions, also known as ‘no-fault evictions’, and additional measures to give tenants greater security.

The new system will end the use of fixed-term assured tenancies, which have until now been the most common private rental agreements.

Instead, all tenancies will be periodic, meaning tenants can remain in their home until they decide to end the tenancy by giving two months’ notice.

The Government says this will stop tenants being stuck paying rent for ‘substandard’ properties and will give them greater flexibility when circumstances change - for example, if they get a new job or their relationship breaks down.

Landlords will be able to take possession of the property if they want to sell it or if they or another family member plans to live their themselves, but they must give their tenant four months notice and they cannot do so in the first 12 months of a new tenancy.

Landlords will still be able to evict tenants falling into rent arrears but the mandatory threshold for doing so will increase from two to three months, with the notice period doubling from two to four weeks.

Bidding wars

The new rules have also been designed to put an end to bidding wars.

Landlords and letting agents will be required to publish an asking rent for the property and will not be able to accept any bids above that amount.

Rent in advance

Landlords will be banned from asking new tenants for large amounts of rent in advance.

They will only be allowed to require up to one month’s rent in advance, once a tenancy agreement has been signed.

Decent Homes Standard

A new Decent Homes Standard (DHS) is being introduced in the private rented sector for the first time, to prevent living in poor quality accommodation.

If a property fails to meet the new requirement, the local council will be able to issue an improvement notice ordering the landlord to bring it up to scratch within a set time period. Should they faily to comply, they could be prosecuted.

The new rules above are not the only changes being made as part of the new Renters’ Rights Bill but they are among the biggest.

The majority of the changes in the Renter’s Rights Bill will not apply in Scotland.

More information on the new bill and how it could affect you is available here.

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