The government has published four new tenant-facing guides this week covering possession notices, rent repayment orders, rental discrimination, and the Tenant Fees Act. Here is what every landlord needs to understand about them.
This week the government quietly published four new guides aimed directly at tenants. If you are a private landlord in England, you need to know they exist — because your tenants are about to read them.
Here is what each guide covers and what it means for you.
1. Notices of Possession Served After 1st May 2026
This guide is written for tenants who receive a possession notice from May onwards. It explains their rights under the new grounds system, what a valid notice looks like, and how to challenge one.
What this means for you: every Section 8 notice you serve from 1st May will be scrutinised by tenants who have been told exactly what to look for. A notice with the wrong ground, the wrong notice period, or the wrong prescribed information will be challenged. There is no margin for error.
2. Rent Repayment Orders
This guide lists every offence a landlord or agent can commit that triggers a Rent Repayment Order — and explains exactly how a tenant proves the offence was committed when applying to the tribunal.
A Rent Repayment Order can force you to repay up to 24 months of rent. The offences that trigger one include failing to licence a property, using an unlawful eviction method, and breaching an improvement notice. Your tenant now has a step-by-step government guide telling them how to build a case against you.
3. Rental Discrimination
From 1st May 2026, it is unlawful to discriminate against a prospective tenant because they have children or receive benefits. This applies from the moment a property is advertised — not just at the point of signing.
The government has now published a plain-English guide for tenants telling them exactly what discrimination looks like, what their rights are, and how to report a breach to their local authority.
The guide covers:
If any of your current advertising uses language that could be construed as discriminatory, change it now. The fine is up to £7,000 for a first breach.
One important nuance: landlords can still conduct affordability checks. You can refuse a tenancy if a tenant cannot demonstrate they can afford the rent — but the income test must be applied consistently and must account for all forms of income including benefits. Using an income threshold as a proxy for filtering out benefit claimants will not be a defence.
4. Tenant Fees Act 2019
This guide outlines what fees and payments a landlord or agent can legally request. With the advance rent cap of one month coming into force on 1st May 2026, this guide is particularly timely — tenants now know exactly what they can and cannot be asked to pay.
If you or your agent are still collecting more than one month's rent in advance, stop immediately. From 1st May it is unlawful regardless of what the tenancy agreement says.
The government publishing tenant-facing guides is not routine housekeeping. It is the enforcement infrastructure being put in place before the Act comes into force.
For the past year, landlords have had access to compliance guidance while tenants have largely been in the dark. That asymmetry ends now.
From 1st May, you will be operating in a market where your tenants have been briefed — by the government itself — on exactly what their rights are, exactly what a valid notice looks like, exactly what fees you can charge, and exactly how to make a formal complaint if you get it wrong.
The landlords who will face the most difficulty are not the ones who are malicious. They are the ones who are simply unprepared. A notice served in good faith but with the wrong ground. An advertising description that has not been reviewed. A deposit or advance rent collected the way it has always been collected.
The new guides do not create new law. They make existing law impossible to ignore.
Review every piece of advertising. Remove any language that could be read as discriminatory — "professionals preferred", "no housing benefit", "no children". Replace it with neutral language focused on affordability and references.
Check your advance rent procedures. If you are collecting more than one month's rent in advance on any tenancy, adjust your process now. From 1st May the cap applies to all new tenancies without exception.
Ensure your Section 8 notices are correct. A tenant who has read the government's possession guide will know immediately if your notice is defective. Use the correct prescribed form, the correct ground, and the correct notice period. LegalDraft Pro generates Section 8 notices drafted to reflect the requirements of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 — the correct grounds, the correct notice periods, the correct prescribed information.
Know what a Rent Repayment Order is. If you manage a licensable HMO without a licence, if you have ever used a method of eviction that was not a valid court order, or if you have failed to comply with an improvement notice — take legal advice now. These are all triggers for a Rent Repayment Order application.
The government's communications campaign around the Renters' Rights Act is accelerating. These four guides are part of a coordinated push to ensure both landlords and tenants understand the new rules before enforcement begins.
That is the correct approach. The Act works best when everyone knows the rules.
For landlords who have prepared, May 1st is simply the date the new system begins. For those who have not, it is the date their exposure starts.
There are 19 days left.
All information on this page reflects the Renters' Rights Act 2025 as in force from 1st May 2026. This article provides general guidance only and does not constitute legal advice. Always verify against official GOV.UK guidance and consult a qualified solicitor for advice specific to your circumstances.
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