Dear Landlords,
As you may be aware, the Renters Reform legislation is due to come into effect on 1st May, following a long period of consultation and media coverage. We are now approaching the implementation stage, and we wanted to ensure you are fully informed of what this means in practice.
We have attached a government-issued information sheet for your review. As a legal requirement, tenants must also be provided with this information, and we will therefore be issuing it directly to all tenants to ensure they are fully informed of the upcoming changes.
Please note, existing tenancies will not need to be reissued as Assured Periodic Tenancies (APTs), provided that the required information sheet has been correctly served to tenants.
New tenancy agreements will, however, be drafted under the updated legislation and will reflect the change from Assured Shorthold Tenancies (ASTs) to Assured Periodic Tenancies (APTs) where applicable.
As part of the wider changes, there will be several key updates to tenancy management, including:
- Fixed-term tenancies will no longer operate in the same way and will transition into periodic tenancies from 1st May. Any existing fixed terms will convert automatically at that point.
- Section 21 “no fault” eviction notices will be removed, meaning possession will need to rely on defined statutory grounds moving forward.
- Rent increases will be restricted to once every 12 months and must be served via the Section 13 process only.
- Changes relating to pets will also come into effect, requiring landlords to consider tenant requests and not unreasonably refuse consent.
Please be assured that as a fully managed service, we are already updating our systems and processes to reflect these changes. Any applicable tenancies under our management will automatically convert to periodic arrangements where required, and we will continue to handle compliance, documentation, and notices on your behalf.
Our aim is to ensure this transition is as smooth as possible for both landlords and tenants. We are taking a proactive approach by informing tenants directly, while also ensuring landlords are kept fully up to date at every stage.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss how these changes may affect your specific portfolio, please do not hesitate to get in touch. We are here to support you throughout this transition.
Kind regards,
Bella Wright
Lettings Manager
