Renters’ Rights Act may shut out ‘riskier’ tenants – NRLA

Reply to the comment left by Beaver at 28/05/2026 – 16:10
I don’t have experience of renting property out in London but if my agents said they couldn’t increase my rent I would look for an agent that said they could. And if I couldn’t find one that said they COULD FIND a tenant who was able to afford the higher rent, in order to protect myself, I would look for an agent whose credit-referencing checks were so efficient that they protected me and also didn’t significantly increase my costs, because margins after financing costs are already tight (for me, I’m not incorporated and I use BTL finance). If your margins are tight a prolonged period trying to get rid of a non-paying tenant when you still have costs is something you definitely want to avoid. Your lender wants you to avoid it as well…both your lender AND your insurer want you to avoid non-paying tenants.

If neither of these things were possible I think I’d be looking at AirBnb. I often stay in AirBnB in other European cities and I find that anywhere near the relevant tube or tram system within a 15-20 minute ride of the centre is feasible. Anybody considering that might need to check the details out. I believe that there may be a 90 day limit in parts of London.

https://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2026/02/25/revisiting-airbnb-what-landlords-hosts-need-to-know/

But if margins are tight, holiday lets with a 90 day limit in one of the world’s top capital cities may now be less risky than renting to some tenants under the Labour Renters Rights Act.

Reply to the comment left by Beaver at 28/05/2026 – 16:10
“The Renters Rights Act says that you can’t let to a tenant for less than 12 months doesn’t it? I have let to tenants for 5-6 months in the past because that’s what they needed, but I can’t do it now.”
You rent it for 12 months and they hand in their 2-month notice on day 1 (or on the first day of any rental period).
Last year we had applicant who only wanted the property for the summer, which we declined. Today they wouldn’t need to ask. Then you’d be going through the whole void/finding new tenants all over again.

Reply to the comment left by Steve Rose at 28/05/2026 – 17:14
A lot has changed and I still don’t understand it all. I copied this from a lawyer’s blog:

https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/guides/renters-rights-act-2025-guide-private-landlords-england#Q1

This says….Where mandatory grounds apply, the court must grant landlords possession if the ground for terminating the tenancy is made out. However, there are specific legislative carve outs, including Human Rights Act considerations, so even with a ‘mandatory’ ground, judges will in practice consider any ‘interests of justice’ arguments…..Where discretionary grounds apply, the court may grant possession if it considers it reasonable to do so. The judge will then have to balance all the circumstances of the case and come to a decision….As a result, possession can never be guaranteed just because a notice specifying a particular ground has been served. Importantly, however, that is not new, and the position was the same under section 21. Possession has always been, and remains, subject to judicial oversight….Given that no-fault evictions are no longer possible and the likely cost and time associated with section 8 notices, landlords would be well-advised to keep their records regarding tenant compliance and incidents up to date and tenants should be aware that well-advised landlords will be doing so…..The removal of no-fault evictions and the well documented delays arising from the court hearing times is of real concern to landlords. There are a number of instances where landlords have very valid grounds for wanting to obtain possession and do so quickly – for example, if a tenant is being anti-social and this is impacting the safety and wellbeing of other residents. In addition, the cost of pursuing possession through the section 8 notice process is likely to be higher and, inevitably, investors will need to factor this increase into operational costs.

So the bottom line is:

Dot all the is and cross all the ts. In the first instance make sure that you have sent the Renters Rights Act Information Sheet to all existing named tenants:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-renters-rights-act-information-sheet-2026

AVOID THE HIGH RISK TENANTS….DON’T RENT TO THEM.

And the only way that you can do that without discriminating is with enhanced credit-referencing.

One month in to Labour’s Renters Rights Act and I have sat with a one bedroom cluster home empty. One of 29 in the same town.
The agent gave us 4 prospects.
1. A 22 year old with part time retail work. Guarantor retired living nearly 100 miles away.
2. Bus driver over 50, separating from his partner.
3. A single warehouse worker moving from London.
4. First time renter couple, living at home.
Now for the judgement of Soloman.
1. If he loses his job, he will not be over 35 (to claim Housing Benefit on a self contained property) until 2039.
2. Selected, but tardy with his references. Rejected on Friday 29 May 2026.
3. Unknown quantity from London.
4. The last first timers we took in 2025, split up in the first 6 months.
We now go around the merry-go-round again.
Single income self contained properties, which we specialise in, are proving hard to fill with sensible tenants.
The Labour Renters Rights Act is helping homeless charities get more clients.

All great comments here – I’d add, Rent Guarantee Insurance (RGI) along with all the other belt and braces referencing – Alan Boswell insurers are fab! It’s a no brainer for me. I will NOT enter into a tenancy with any prospective tenant without RGI and a good Uk based Guarantor ( preferably home owner ). You can check the “title register” on the HMLR online portal for £3.00. Also, with self employed and the SA302, it’s impossible to gain an “Attachment to earnings” order, so I generally stick to employed with a clean credit file and the ability to gain RGI insurance ( always with a good Guarantor ).

Reply to the comment left by Kay Shaw at 08:25
Small correction HMLR now style themselves HM Land Registry and they are pedantic about the title and the fee is now £7.00. Wish I could increase my rent by the same percentage.

The good news may be that those tenants taking advantage of the welfare system may realise “oh I need to get a job or 2 jobs to be a tenant a landlord will accept”.

Reply to the comment left by Disgrunteld Landlady at 04:35
……. and ultimately better tenant like behaviour otherwise they’ll find it very very difficult to find a Landlord who will rent a property to them.

Reply to the comment left by Northampton Landlord at 30/05/2026 – 06:58
If Northampton Landlord means you’re in Northampton then I understand that in some ways you are in a unique environment. Probably commutable from London, close to the M1, but there has also been enormous development around Northampton and Milton Keynes, so there could well be a lot of similar properties needing to be rented out.

I think in your case what I’d be looking at is (a) how do I avoid the real problem tenants (b) what evidence would I need if I needed to sell the debt on to a debt collection agency. So along with right to rent check I might go with *requesting* from everybody (in order not to be discriminating under the Renters Rights Act):

(a) character reference/reference from previous landlord for everybody.
(b) Last two years of SA302 and/or last two years of tax references.
(c) evidence of savings in a recent (last two months) UK bank account.
(d) Two forms of photo ID (driving licence and passport).
(e) One other form of evidence of normal residential address.

And also let every prospective tenant know that they may be subject to a credit reference check and a CRB check.

If you’re doing something else then do share so that we can all learn from your experience.