Does the Renters' Rights Act apply to existing tenancies?

The Renters' Rights Act applies to existing tenancies as well as new ones. On 1 May 2026, every private assured tenancy in England that was already running, including every assured shorthold tenancy, became an assured periodic tenancy, and the new rules on possession, rent increases and tenants' notice started applying to it. A few rules, such as the rent in advance limit, only apply to tenancies agreed on or after 1 May 2026.

Will the Renters' Rights Bill apply to existing tenancies?

Yes. Under section 146 of the Act, every existing private assured tenancy, including assured shorthold tenancies, continued on 1 May 2026 as a "section 4A assured tenancy", which is periodic. Terms providing for a fixed term stopped having effect.

You don't need to do anything to make that happen, and GOV.UK says you don't need to change or re-issue an existing written tenancy agreement. But some one-off duties came with the switch, and most of their deadlines have passed.

These rules cover private landlords in England. Social housing tenancies move later, and Wales has its own system.

Renters' Rights Act rules for existing tenancies at a glance

Rule	Applies to tenancies from before 1 May 2026?	Notes
Tenancy becomes periodic; fixed term has no effect	Yes	From 1 May 2026
Section 21 abolished	Yes	Old notices only usable if the claim was started by 31 July 2026
New Section 8 grounds, notice periods and Form 3A	Yes, for notices served from 1 May 2026	Old Section 8 notices followed transitional rules
Ground 1A (selling)	Yes for former assured shorthold tenancies	Not available on older assured tenancies that were never shorthold
Rent increases only by Section 13 on Form 4A	Yes	Increases under a rent review clause before 1 May 2026 stay valid
Tenant's notice capped at 2 months	Yes	A tenant's notice given before 1 May 2026 stays valid
Pet requests: 28-day reply, no unreasonable refusal	Yes	Every private assured tenancy has the implied pet term
Information Sheet	Yes, for wholly or partly written tenancies	Due by 31 May 2026
Written information on key terms	Only for wholly verbal tenancies	Due by 31 May 2026
Prior notice of grounds in the written statement	No, for existing written tenancies	Ground 4A has its own statement, due by 31 May 2026
Rent in advance limit	No	Existing arrangements can continue
Deposit rules extended, and possession bar	Yes for former assured shorthold tenancies	Not for older non-shorthold assured tenancies
Rent periods longer than a month	Yes	Converted to monthly periods
Penalties for the new tenancy rules	Only for conduct from 1 May 2026	Conduct before then attracts no penalty

What happened to the fixed term?

It stopped having effect on 1 May 2026, but the tenancy didn't start again. The Act treats a fixed-term tenancy and the periodic tenancy that followed it as one tenancy, entered into when the fixed term began.

That matters for possession grounds with time limits. On our reading of section 147, the 12-month protected period for Grounds 1 and 1A counts from the original start date, not from 1 May 2026. Whether a fresh tenancy granted to the same tenant, such as a renewal, restarts the clock is not settled. If your case turns on it, speak to a solicitor before you serve.

If a tenancy had quarterly or annual rent, it switched to monthly periods from the day after the rent period in which 1 May 2026 fell. See periodic tenancies.

What happened to old section 21 and Section 8 notices?

Section 21 notices served before 1 May 2026:

• If you had already asked the court to issue the claim before 1 May 2026, the notice stays valid until those proceedings end.
• Otherwise, proceedings had to be started by the earlier of 6 months from the date the notice was given (or 4 months from the date in the notice, where more than 2 months' notice was required) and 31 July 2026.
• After 31 July 2026, no new claim can be started on an old section 21 notice, apart from rare breathing-space cases. The tenancy carries on as an assured periodic tenancy.

Section 8 notices served before 1 May 2026 stayed valid until the earlier of the notice's own 12-month limit and 31 July 2026, unless the claim was started in time. The old Form 3 rules apply only to those cases.

When an old notice stopped being valid, or a claim on it ended without a possession order, the Information Sheet became due within one month. See the Information Sheet guide. For your options now, read Section 8 on existing tenancies and what happened to the Section 21 notice.

Older assured tenancies that were never shorthold

A small number of tenancies granted before 1 May 2026 were full assured tenancies rather than assured shorthold tenancies. The commencement regulations call these legacy assured tenancies. Two rules differ:

• Ground 1A (selling) can't be used on them. Ground 1 (moving in) is still available.
• The deposit amendments don't apply to them, so the new deposit bar on possession orders doesn't apply either.

Rent increases on existing tenancies

From 1 May 2026, the only way to raise the rent is a Section 13 notice on Form 4A. The transitional rules:

• An increase under a rent review clause, or a Form 4 notice, that took effect before 1 May 2026 stays valid and starts the 52-week clock.
• An increase agreed before 1 May 2026 but taking effect after that date does not apply. GOV.UK: "the increase will not apply".
• A Form 4 notice served before 1 May 2026 continues under the old rules.

Example. A rent review clause raised Jo's rent on 1 March 2026. Her tenancy runs from the 1st of each month. The next increase can't start within 52 weeks of 1 March 2026, and it must start on the first day of a rent period, so the earliest start date is 1 March 2027. Jo's landlord must serve Form 4A at least 2 months before that, allowing time for delivery. The Section 13 date calculator checks the dates, including the 53-week rule. See also rent review clauses.

Checklist for existing tenancies

• Every named tenant on a written tenancy received the Information Sheet. If not, give it now.
• Verbal tenancies received written information on the key terms.
• Ground 4A student lets: the written statement was given by 31 May 2026, or the ground can't be used.
• Shared owners: the statement for the restricted-period exception was given by 31 May 2026.
• No rent rise is planned under a rent review clause; use Form 4A instead.
• Old section 21 notices are filed away as no longer usable.
• Deposits are protected and the prescribed information was given.

What to do next

If you need possession from an existing tenant, our Section 8 notice builder uses the tenancy's original start date to check the protected period and calculates the notice date. For the other changes, see the Renters' Rights Act hub.