The rental landscape in the UK is shifting and for landlords it’s important to keep up with changes but remember that it isn’t just a case of being a box-ticking exercise for compliance. It is also about protecting your investment while making sure that it still continues to perform.
While the headlines about new regulations can sometimes feel a little bit demanding, it is worth remembering that these changes are generally designed to create a more stable and professional market to create benefits for both tenants and landlords.
Getting a handle on the new rules for landlords in 2026 is the first step. One of the biggest changes is that the new Renters’ Rights Act 2025 is what is driving a lot of the changes. Changes will reshape tenancy agreements, eviction processes and landlord responsibilities. With the right support in place all of these changes can be navigated easily without too much stress so that you’re able to focus on what matters, which is the performance of your portfolio.
This guide on the new rules for landlords 2026 will break down the key updates and explains how having a property partner who handles the whole lifecycle can help you navigate this new territory.
The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 is legislation that received Royal Assent on October 27th, 2025. Unlike the previous ‘Renters’ Reform Bill’ which failed to pass, this Act is now law, with major provisions scheduled to come into force in May 2026. It aims to create a fairer rental market and represents what is arguably the biggest shake-up of the sector in thirty years. Now that the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 has passed into law, it serves as the central framework for the rental sector leading into 2026.
The removal of Section 21 evictions is the headline change. From May 2026, landlords will need to provide a valid reason.
While this sounds restrictive, the government has indicated that the grounds for possession will be expanded and strengthened. The intention is to ensure landlords can still recover their property when they genuinely need to. For instance, we expect these new grounds to make it easier to evict tenants for anti-social behaviour or repeated rent arrears.
This shift suggests that being diligent of tenant selection is going to be more important than ever. At Prosperity Group, our lettings and management division, Lamont Estates, invests heavily in vetting to find reliable tenants. Maintaining a positive relationship from day one will be your best defence in a post-Section 21 market.
The new bill also proposes a portable deposit system. The idea is that a deposit can be transferred with the tenant from one property to the next property. This portable deposit system will solve the cash-flow problem for renters who often struggle to raise a second deposit before the first deposit is returned.
For landlords, this portable renting deposit is designed to streamline the moving process and could potentially reduce void periods between tenancies. However, it is fair to say this will require careful coordination to work in practice. You need robust systems to ensure the transfer happens smoothly without leaving you exposed.
To improve transparency, the government plans to introduce a new national landlord register. This will act as a central database of landlords and their properties. It is primarily designed to help councils identify and tackle criminal operators, while giving tenants a bit more clarity on who they are renting from.
For landlords who have always followed the rules, this should simply be an admin task, another bit of paperwork to keep on top of. The services we provide at Prosperity Group are set up to handle this sort of regulatory compliance so you meet the legal requirements evrytime without having to log into do it yourself.
The new rules for landlords in 2026 will also impact the structure of tenancies. We expect to see:
We know the Renters’ Rights Act is already changing the day-to-day operations for landlords but the Autumn Budget 2025 has shifted the focus to the bottom line. The announcements from November include tax updates that are due to kick in from April 2026.
If you are operating via a Limited Company, make sure you keep an eye on dividend tax rates as they are set to rise by 2% starting in April 2026. The rates will be:
While the corporate structure still seems to be the most efficient route for mortgage interest relief, this change does suggest we need to be smarter about profit extraction strategies.
This is an area where our Prosperity Group team can offer some guidance.
For me, the biggest news was the upcoming split of property income from standard income tax. Starting April 2027, if you own property in your personal name, you are likely to face a specific tax rate of 22% (basic) and 42% (higher). That is effectively a 2% surcharge compared to other income sources.
Even though this doesn’t formally start until 2027, 2026 is arguably the year to get ready. It would be wise to use this window to review your ownership structures. It feels like the government is increasingly pushing towards professional, corporate-owned portfolios and moving away from casual, personal-name ownership.
The new rules for landlords in 2025 regarding property standards place a renewed focus on the quality of rental homes. The Decent Homes Standard is currently a requirement for properties in the social housing sector which we believe is likely to be extended to private rentals. This means that rented properties will need to meet specific criteria regarding their state of repair, modern facilities and energy efficiency.
Future-proofing your investment really starts at the construction phase. Our development arm, Prosperity Developments, builds high-quality, energy-efficient properties designed to exceed these regulatory standards.
We have seen firsthand how the quality of a property can impact the bottom line.
For example, one of our investors holds an older Victorian conversion alongside a unit in one of our new developments. Over a three-year period, the older property required significant capital for a boiler replacement and damp treatment to meet upcoming efficiency grades. In contrast, the new building required zero capital expenditure on maintenance, and because the EPC rating was high, the tenants saved money on bills and stayed in the property longer. This approach doesn’t just ensure compliance; it makes the asset more desirable to reliable tenants.
Navigating a changing regulatory environment with new rules for landlords in 2026 can be tricky, but Prosperity Group is structured to provide clarity on these new rules for landlords in 2026. We have moved beyond being a standard investment service to become a “concept-to-completion” partner. We manage the entire lifecycle of your property investment.
Our integrated approach solves the common frustration of fragmentation, where one company builds it, another sells it and a third tries to manage it. Our divisions work together:
By keeping everything under one roof, we ensure nothing gets lost in translation. The team that builds the property talks to the team that manages it.
Contact us for more information.
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The Renters’ Rights Act is the new legislation replacing the previous Renters (Reform) Bill. It is the official name of the legislation containing the new rules for landlords in 2026 that we have discussed in this article, such as the end of Section 21 and the creation of the national landlord register.
The bill does not propose a hard cap on rent amounts. Instead, it aims to standardise the process by allowing landlords to increase rent only once per year with two months’ notice. It also clarifies the tribunal process for tenants to challenge increases that are genuinely unreasonable.
To ensure your property is compliant with new regulations, it’s important to stay up-to-date on legal changes. The most effective method is to work with a professional property management company. A good property manager like Lamont Estates will be fully up to speed with legislative changes and handles compliance as part of the service.
We believe that the new national landlord register where you register yourself and your properties on a central portal. will be a simple, straightforward administrative requirement for most landlords,
The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on October 27th 2025, but the government has factored in a transition period to allow the courts to prepare. The official ban on Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions is scheduled to come into force in May 2026 for both new and existing tenancies.
Oliver Thacker is a Property Investment Consultant at Prosperity Group. He has a wealth of knowledge regarding the UK property market, drawn from a background in local and national estate agencies. He has since moved into the investment world, working with clients to build income-generating, off-plan buy-to-let portfolios.
