There are changes for tenants and landlords from 1 May 2026
The Renters’ Rights Act comes into force on 1 May 2026. New rules around renting will give more protections to tenants, while landlords who need to evict tenants causing anti-social behaviour will be able to do so more quickly.
Tenants
You will have more rights, for example:
- You can’t be evicted without a good reason (and your landlord cannot intimidate or harass you into giving up your tenancy)
- There are new rules about how much and how often your landlord can put up your rent
- Rental bidding and large deposits will be banned
- You can’t be refused a property because you’re on benefits or have children
The housing charity Shelter has really good information about these changes. Find out more on the Renters' Rights Act: changes for private tenants page on the Shelter website.
A useful summary document is also available on the The Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet 2026 page on the GOV.UK website.
If you are a tenant, we can help by investigating reports of poor standards in rented properties and breaches of the new tenancy rights.
It’s important to understand that this is different from reporting a repair or making a complaint to your landlord – you should still do that direct or through the letting agent. We can help when your landlord has broken the rules, or the standard of the property is so poor that we might prosecute or fine them.
Report a repair issue
To report a repair issue, you'll need:
- landlord details (including your landlord's telephone number)
- tenancy details (including tenancy start date and rent paid)
- to have exhausted the complaints procedure with your Housing Association (if applicable)*
*If the landlord of your property is a registered social landlord (Housing Association) you'll need to exhaust the complaints procedure with your landlord first. If, after doing so, they still have not dealt with your issues sufficiently, please complete our report form. Please include evidence to show the complaints procedure has been exhausted.
Report a concern about your landlord or property
If you believe your landlord has broken the new rules, you will be able to report this to us from 1 May 2026.
Landlords
Good landlords have nothing to fear from the new legislation – it’s designed to give tenants more security but it does not prevent landlords from taking action on certain grounds, such as anti-social behaviour. It will, for example, protect tenants from:
- eviction because they have asked for reasonable repairs
- frequent rent rises
- discrimination because they are on benefits or have children
It puts more of an emphasis on the landlord as a service provider, and the tenant as a service user. Some of the new rules protect good landlords, for example reducing the amount of time before a landlord can take action against a tenant who is causing anti-social behaviour. The gov.uk Private landlords page has a lot of information about the changes and what they mean for landlords.
If you use a letting agent, you can also talk to them – any reputable agent should have all the details and help you understand what it means for you. If you are having problems with a tenant, you should normally contact your letting agent first. However, we can help by investigating reports of anti-social behaviour. We can advise on how to record incidents and, in serious cases, may take action ourselves. You will still need to manage the process but we may be able to support you with it.
If you don’t have a letting agent or want advice from the council, please email housingstandards@west-norfolk.gov.uk.