How to Be a Good Landlord Under the Renters' Rights Act: A Practical Guide

How to Be a Good Landlord Under the Renters' Rights Act: A Practical Guide

Being a good landlord in England now means pairing clear communication with strict formality. Under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, every rent increase, pet request and possession step runs through a formal route, with civil penalties of up to £7,000 for many first breaches. Good landlords talk to tenants first, complete the formal step properly, and keep evidence of both.

This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Landlords should seek independent legal advice for their specific circumstances. It describes the position in England.

Why informality became expensive on 1 May 2026

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 came into force for tenancies in England on 1 May 2026, and its practical effect on day to day landlording is simple: the informal shortcuts are gone. Section 21 was abolished, so possession now runs through Section 8 grounds and evidence. Fixed terms ended, so every tenancy is periodic and open ended. Rent increases, pet requests, advertising and rent in advance all acquired statutory rules, most of them enforceable by local authority civil penalties of up to £7,000 for a first breach, and up to £40,000 for the more serious offences.

None of this changed what a good landlord actually does. Landlords who kept properties safe, responded to tenants quickly and documented their decisions were already doing most of what the Act now requires. What changed is the cost of doing those things casually. A rent increase mentioned in a text message, a pet request left unanswered, a repair acknowledged verbally and forgotten: each of these is now either legally ineffective, a deemed consent, or the beginning of a penalty file.

The rest of this guide takes the situations every landlord faces and pairs the human habit with the formal step behind it. Our overview of what the Renters' Rights Act 2025 means for self-managing landlords covers the legal changes in full; this guide is about how to operate well within them.

Set the rent honestly and put the price in writing

Good landlords price the property accurately before it is advertised, because the advertised figure is now a legal ceiling. Sections 56 and 57 of the Renters' Rights Act require landlords and letting agents to state a specific proposed rent in any written advertisement or offer, and prohibit inviting, encouraging or accepting an offer above that figure. A local authority satisfied on the balance of probabilities that bidding took place can impose a civil penalty of up to £7,000. The old habit of listing low and letting applicants compete is not a marketing tactic any more; it is a breach. The detail is in our guide to what landlords can and cannot do under the rental bidding ban.

Two related rules sit alongside it. Landlords cannot refuse an applicant solely because they receive benefits or have children, although genuine affordability checks applied consistently to all applicants remain lawful. And rent in advance is capped at one month once the tenancy agreement is signed. A landlord who prices realistically, applies the same referencing criteria to everyone, and keeps a written record of how each applicant was assessed has nothing to fear from any of these provisions, and a paper trail if a rejected applicant complains.

Raise the rent with a conversation, then Form 4A

The landlords who handle rent increases well do it in two steps: a conversation first, then the formal notice. Under section 13 of the Housing Act 1988 as amended by the Renters' Rights Act, rent on an assured periodic tenancy can be increased once per year, using the prescribed Form 4A, with at least two months' notice. The tenant can refer the proposed rent to the First-tier Tribunal before it takes effect, and the tribunal cannot set a rent higher than the landlord proposed.

That challenge right is why the conversation matters. A tenant who hears the reasoning before the envelope arrives, with comparable local rents and a note of what the increase funds, understands the figure rather than fearing it. The legal step is identical either way. The difference is whether the increase lands as a decision explained or a demand served, and explained decisions are referred to tribunals far less often. Serve the notice properly regardless: an invalid Form 4A means no increase at all, and the common drafting mistakes are covered in our guide to serving a section 13 rent increase with Form 4A.

Treat the first missed payment as the moment to act

Good landlords contact the tenant within days of a missed payment, not months. Ground 8, the mandatory arrears ground, now requires at least three months of arrears (13 weeks where rent is paid weekly) both when notice is served and at the hearing, with a four week notice period. That higher threshold means an arrears problem left alone for a quarter of a year is the earliest point at which mandatory possession even becomes available, and court timescales run from there.

The practical consequence is that early, documented engagement is now the landlord's best protection. A phone call in week one, followed by a written note of what was discussed, a payment plan offered in writing, and a record of every payment made or missed does three jobs at once. It often resolves the arrears before Ground 8 is ever in reach. It demonstrates reasonableness if possession later proceeds on discretionary grounds. And it produces the dated arrears history a judge will expect to see. Our article on what to do in the first 30 days after a tenant stops paying rent sets out the sequence step by step.

Answer repair reports the same day, in writing

The single cheapest habit in this guide is acknowledging every repair report in writing on the day it arrives, even when the fix itself will take longer. Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 keeps the landlord responsible for the structure, exterior and key installations, and the Renters' Rights Act provides for Awaab's Law to be extended to the private rented sector, which will set fixed response timescales for serious hazards. The commencement date for private landlords has not yet been confirmed, but the direction is settled: response times will be measured, and the measurement starts from the report.

A same day written acknowledgment fixes the start date of the clock on the landlord's own record, shows the tenant they were heard, and prevents the most common escalation in disrepair disputes, which is silence. Pair it with a second habit: framing periodic inspections as service visits. A message that says the visit is to check the property's condition and pick up anything that needs fixing gets cooperative access and finds damp in month two. A bare notice of entry gets a refused appointment and finds the same damp in month ten, after the complaint has gone in.

Respond to pet requests within 28 days

A pet request is now a statutory process with a hard deadline, and silence is the worst possible answer. Under section 16A of the Housing Act 1988, inserted by the Renters' Rights Act 2025, a tenant may make a written request to keep a pet, and the landlord must respond in writing within 28 days. Consent must not be unreasonably refused. Miss the window and the request is generally treated as granted, an outcome that cannot be walked back.

The good landlord habit is to treat every request as a case to be decided, not a nuisance to be ignored. Ask for further information within the window if it is genuinely needed. If refusing, give the specific reason in writing: a superior landlord's prohibition, or a mismatch between the animal and the property, rather than a blanket policy, which the Act does not permit. If consenting, the Act allows the landlord to require reasonable pet damage insurance as a condition. Either way the response, its date and its reasoning belong on file, because tenants can challenge refusals they consider unreasonable. The full process is in our guide to handling tenant pet requests under the Renters' Rights Act.

Build the paper layer before the PRS Database opens

Two institutions arriving in the next phase will judge landlords on their records. The Private Rented Sector Database, named the Register Your Rental Property Service, is due to open on 15 December 2026 and roll out region by region, with the West Midlands first to face a registration deadline in March 2027 and remaining regions following through 2027. The PRS Landlord Ombudsman is expected to require landlord membership from 2028. Registration timing and requirements are tracked in our article on the PRS Database launch date and rollout timeline.

Good landlords are getting two documents ready before either arrives. The first is a tenant welcome pack: how to report a repair, emergency contacts, appliance instructions, and how the tenancy's key dates work. It prevents the disputes that begin with a tenant not knowing who to tell. The second is a short written complaints procedure. The ombudsman will assess how a complaint was handled, not only whether the underlying issue was resolved, and a landlord who acknowledged, investigated and responded in dated writing wins the process argument even where the substance was messy. Neither document is legally required today. Both are the difference between a file that defends you and a file that does not.

Only serve a possession notice you intend to stand behind

Speculative possession notices are now an expensive habit. Ground 1A, the selling ground, carries a re-letting restriction: where the ground is used, the landlord cannot re-let or re-market the property during a restricted period connected to the notice. Government guidance describes a 12 month restriction, and on a cautious reading of the Act's drafting the practical restriction from the date of service can be materially longer. The precise calculation is a point on which legal opinion varies, and any landlord relying on Ground 1A where a sale is uncertain should take advice before serving.

The habit this points to is straightforward: serve possession notices only when the stated ground is genuine, current and evidenced. Under the post section 21 framework every notice must plead a specific ground, and every ground must survive scrutiny at a hearing, so a notice served to test the water creates risk without creating options. Good landlords decide first, evidence the decision, then serve once.

The habit that ties it all together

Every situation above follows the same three beat pattern: do the human step, do the formal step, keep evidence of both. The table below puts the whole guide in one place.

Read down the right hand column and a pattern appears: every good landlord habit ends in a record. The conversation is only useful if a note of it exists. The acknowledgment only protects you if it is dated. The refusal only stands if the reasons were written down. Under a framework where councils impose penalties on the balance of probabilities, an ombudsman reviews conduct files, and judges expect documentary evidence for every ground, the record is not the admin that follows good practice. It is the part of good practice that survives.

Good practice needs evidence that survives

This is where most conscientious landlords are still exposed. They do the right things, then store the proof across a phone camera roll, an email inbox and a folder of PDFs that cannot show when a document was created or whether it was ever served. When a council asks for records, a tenant challenges a notice, or the ombudsman opens a file, what matters is not whether the landlord behaved well but whether the evidence of it is organised, dated and retrievable.

That is the specific problem LLCR is built for. It is a compliance evidence system for landlords and letting agents: certificates tracked with expiry alerts, notices built and logged with proof of service, repair reports and responses held in a dated issue register, and the whole record exportable when a council, tribunal or ombudsman asks. The habits in this guide make you a good landlord. The evidence layer is what lets you demonstrate it.

LLCR keeps the record that good practice depends on: every certificate, notice, repair response and proof of service in one dated, exportable register. Run the free compliance checker to see where your current records stand.