Renters' Rights Act compliance checklist

How this checklist is built

The eight sections map one-to-one onto the duties created or restated by the Renters' Rights Act 2025. Tenancy status, Section 8 grounds, the Information Sheet duty and the Ombudsman scheme all sit in the Act itself; pet-request handling and rent-increase mechanics sit in the supporting commencement regulations. The checklist reads thresholds and dates direct from the published GOV.UK landlord overview and the Information Sheet publication.

The 31 May 2026 Information Sheet deadline is set by regulation, not by individual tenancy date. Every tenant in occupation on commencement must have received it by that date — even if their tenancy began years earlier. The 28-day pet-request response window starts on the date a written request is received; missing it converts a discretionary refusal into a statutory consent.

Section 21 abolition takes effect on commencement (1 May 2026 in the published roadmap). Any Section 21 notice served before that date but not yet acted on remains valid for the original two-month window — but new notices cannot be issued. Possession after commencement is via Section 8 only, with the evidence requirements summarised in the implementation roadmap.

The PRS Database registration window has not yet been published — the checklist flags it as a duty to monitor rather than a fixed date. Sign-up will be required before letting; non-registration becomes a civil-penalty offence once the database goes live.

Related legislation

The Act amends the Housing Act 1988 (assured tenancies, Section 8 grounds), the Housing Act 1985 (fitness for human habitation, Decent Homes), and the Equality Act 2010 (the discrimination basis for banning "No DSS" wording).

The Decent Homes Standard extension to the PRS sits inside the Act and is enforced by local councils using powers already familiar from the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) under the 2004 Housing Act. Awaab's Law response timescales (14 days to investigate, 7 days for emergency repair) are imported from the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 framework into the PRS through the new Act.

Deposit protection rules under the Housing Act 2004 are unchanged but are a prerequisite for serving any Section 8 notice. A landlord who has not protected the deposit cannot validly start a possession claim — worth re-checking the evidence file as part of the checklist.