Renters’ Rights Act sees landlords pause rent rises

Fewer sitting tenants saw their rent rise in May after the Renters’ Rights Act came into force, according to Hamptons, but they are facing bigger increases when they do.

Its analysis of Connells Group data shows the number of existing tenants receiving rent increases was 23% lower than in May 2025.

It is also 16% below the five-year May average.

If the level of rent rises recorded in May were repeated across the rest of the year, Hamptons estimates 31% of sitting tenants would see their rent rise.

That compares with 40% in the 12 months to May 2025 and 50% in the 12 months to January 2024.

Rent rises will be bigger

Aneisha Beveridge, the firm’s head of research, said: “One of the first impacts of the Renters’ Rights Act has been a reduction in the number of existing tenants seeing their rent rise.

“While this partly reflects a backdrop of slower rental growth, falls suggests landlords have, at least initially, been less likely to increase rents than under the previous system where changes predominantly coincided with a tenant signing a new contract.

“If the pattern seen in Scotland plays out in England, tenants may see their rent rise less often going forward.

“However, the size of the increase may be larger, bridging the gap that can build up between what tenants are currently paying and the prevailing market rate.”

Last month, the average rent increase in Scotland was 7.7%, which was higher than in any other region in Great Britain.

Lower rent rises

Among tenants whose rent did change in May, the average annual increase was 5.4%, which is unchanged from April and slightly below the 5.5% recorded in May 2025.

The size of rent increases has fallen from 7.3% at the peak of rent growth, reflecting softer market conditions and fewer landlords choosing to raise rents.

However, increases for existing tenants remain above the level recorded on newly agreed lets, where annual growth stood at 1.1% in May.

Hamptons said increases for sitting tenants often reflect a catch-up to market levels where rents have not been adjusted for some time.

Following Scotland’s lead

Scotland recorded the largest average increase among tenants whose rent changed, at 7.7% in May.

The firm says that Scotland’s experience, where periodic tenancies have been in place since 2017 and rent caps were lifted in April 2024, may point to fewer but larger adjustments under a similar system.

Also, the shift reflects more than a cooling market, with rents now likely to be reviewed over longer periods rather than at the point when a tenancy renewed.

In the first month after the Act became law, the average price of a newly agreed let in Great Britain rose 1.1% over the year to May 2026, down from 1.2% in April.

That left the average rent paid by a tenant moving into a property at £1,382.

The South East became the first region outside London to reach an average rent of £1,500, up 2% year-on-year.

London rents stood at £2,294 last month and the capital last recorded average rents of £1,500 in June 2012.