Renters' Rights Act 2025: What It Means for Let Flats
The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 regulates tenancies, not long leases. Since 1 May 2026, section 21 ‘no fault’ possession has been abolished in England and assured shorthold tenancies have become periodic assured tenancies. These changes affect leaseholders who let their flats, not those who live in them.
Law Has Changed Since This Was Written
This was written in February 2025, while the Renters' Rights Bill was still before Parliament. It became the Renters' Rights Act 2025 in October 2025, and from 1 May 2026 section 21 'no fault' possession was abolished in England and assured shorthold tenancies became periodic assured tenancies. Read this as a record of the position at the time, not as current compliance advice.
What Did the Renters’ Rights Bill Propose?
As it stood in February 2025, the Renters’ Rights Bill proposed abolishing section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions, replacing fixed-term assured and assured shorthold tenancies with periodic tenancies, strengthening tenant rights to challenge poor property conditions, extending the Decent Homes Standard to private rentals and introducing a Private Rented Sector Ombudsman. The summary below sets out what the Bill proposed at that time.
- Abolishing section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions.
- Extending the Decent Homes Standard to private rentals (pending further consultation)
- Strengthening tenant rights to challenge poor property conditions
- Replacing fixed-term assured and assured shorthold tenancies with periodic tenancies
- Introducing a Private Rented Sector Ombudsman to handle disputes between landlords and tenants.
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Does the Renters’ Rights Act Affect Block Management?
Only indirectly. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 regulates tenancies, so its duties fall on leaseholders who let their flats, not on leaseholders who live in them. Landlords of let flats may need to meet the Decent Homes Standard as it is extended to the private rented sector, and buildings with both owner-occupiers and tenants may need clear dispute procedures, but block management companies are not legally required to change policies for communal areas unless they oversee rental units directly.
- Increased Compliance – Landlords renting out properties within block-managed buildings may need to meet the new Decent Homes Standard if extended. However, leaseholders who are not landlords are not obligated to comply with these standards.
- More Tenant Disputes – With greater tenant rights, freeholders and managing agents may need clear procedures to handle disputes between tenants and landlords within their buildings. Leaseholders who do not rent out their properties will not be affected by tenant disputes under the new law.
- Leasehold vs. Rental Conflicts – The proposed removal of Section 21 evictions could lead to complications in buildings where both leaseholders and tenants reside. However, block management companies are not legally required to change policies for communal areas unless they oversee rental units directly.
Does a Managing Agent Deal with Tenants of Let Flats?
Not with the tenancy itself. The managing agent looks after the building and its common parts: repairs, fire safety in the shared areas, insurance and service charges. It does not manage tenancies, serve possession notices or handle disputes between a leaseholder-landlord and their tenant; those stay with the landlord or their letting agent.
Frequently Asked Questions
These answers reflect the law in England since 1 May 2026, when the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 abolished section 21 possession and assured shorthold tenancies became periodic assured tenancies.
Does the Renters’ Rights Act Apply to Leasehold Flats?
It applies to tenancies, not to long leases. A leaseholder who lets their flat is a landlord under the new rules; a leaseholder who lives in the flat is not affected as a leaseholder.
How Will the End of Section 21 Evictions Impact Leaseholders?
Only leaseholders who let their flats are affected. Since 1 May 2026, under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, a landlord in England can no longer serve a section 21 notice and needs a statutory ground for possession.
Will Block-Managed Properties Need to Meet the Decent Homes Standard?
The standard concerns privately rented homes, so it falls on the landlord of a let flat rather than on the common parts. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 extends it to the private rented sector, with the detail set by regulations; check GOV.UK for the current timetable.
What Role Does the New Landlord Ombudsman Play?
The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 provides for a private rented sector landlord ombudsman that private landlords will have to join. Check GOV.UK for when membership becomes compulsory.
How Can Block Management Companies Help Landlords and Leaseholders Adjust?
By keeping the building side in order: repairs to the common parts, fire safety for the shared areas and clear lease rules on letting, so that a leaseholder who lets has what they need from the building.
Conclusion: Preparing for the Future
- The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 abolished section 21 possession in England from 1 May 2026 and turned assured shorthold tenancies into periodic assured tenancies. The Decent Homes Standard and the landlord ombudsman follow through regulations, so check GOV.UK for when each applies.
- Freeholders and managing agents of buildings with let flats should watch for the regulations that follow, including the extension of the Decent Homes Standard, which was still under consultation in February 2025.
- The Bill placed no new legal obligations on leaseholders who live in their flats or on block management firms, although clear letting rules help prevent disputes. Block management covers the building and its common parts. The tenancy itself stays with the landlord or their letting agent.
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