Renters' rights

Exemptions include:

• Some (but not all) purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA). The rules are complex - contact us at SU Advice for a contract check if you're unsure if this applies to you.
• If the university owns the student accommodation. Accommodation booked through Sheffield Hallam Accommodation Service is not owned by the University, so would not fall within this category.
• If the landlord lives in the property with you, for example if you rent a room as a lodger and share the living spaces with the landlord.
• If your housing is provided as part of your job, this could be temporary housing provided by an employer or a premises that comes with a role, such as a pub landlord.
• Short term or holiday lets, such as Airbnbs or seasonal accommodation let for less than 6 months.

From 1 May 2026, all assured tenancies will be "periodic" (rather than "fixed-term") and can be ended by the tenant with 2 months' notice.

If a tenancy agreement has a fixed date, this will no longer be valid. If a new tenancy agreement issued after 1 May 2026 has an end date, this will be a breach of the new Act and the landlord can be fined.

What's the difference between fixed-term and periodic?

• Fixed-term tenancy: You sign a contract to rent for a specific period - e.g. exactly 12 months from 1 September to 31 August. You're locked in for that whole period.
• Periodic tenancy:Your tenancy runs month-to-month with no set end date. You can leave with two months' notice at any time.

What's a joint tenancy?

A joint tenancy is when multiple people rent a property together and you're all named on the same tenancy agreement. You're all equally responsible for the rent - if one person doesn't pay their share, the landlord can chase any or all of you for the full amount.

Pre- 1 May 2026, all tenants must agree to end a tenancy. Under the new rules, individual tenants can end the tenancy by giving the landlord two months' notice. This will end the tenancy for all tenants, and the landlord will then have the option to negotiate with the remaining tenants.

Landlords can only evict tenants on specified grounds. For example, if the landlord wishes to move into the property, or if you have more than 3 months' rent arrears.

Landlords can evict students using ground 4A at the end of the academic year, so they're able to continue to let the property to students in the future.

This ground can only be used if:

• The tenancy was signed less than 6 months before the date of the tenancy start date.
• The landlord reasonably believes all of the tenants will be full-time students for the academic year at the point the tenancy is entered into.
• The property is a HMO, or is part of a HMO - a property with 3 or more bedrooms let to unrelated adults.
• The landlord gives you 4 months' notice of the date they will apply for eviction - the notice period must end between 1 June and 30 September.

If you stay after this date, the landlord cannot remove you from the property or change the locks, they will need to apply to court for eviction.

Landlords or letting agents have to publish the rent amount in the advert and accept the advertised rental amount.

Landlords cannot accept an offer to pay higher rent or an upfront payment to secure the property. If they do, they can face fines from the council.

Landlords can no longer require tenants to pay rent upfront at the beginning of the tenancy.

If you want to be able to pay your rent in line with your maintenance loan payments, you can pay in advance and the landlord can accept this, but it cannot be written into the tenancy agreement.

Landlords can only raise rent once per year and tenants can challenge excessive increases.

The Decent Homes Standard and Awaab's Law will be introduced for private rented properties.

What's Awaab's Law?

Awaab's Law sets clear, legally enforceable timeframes within which landlords must make homes safe where they contain serious hazards like mould. Implementation timescales will be subject to consultation.

The council will have additional mandatory enforcement powers to fine landlords who breach the rights set out in the Act.

There will also be a new landlord database for increased transparency, as well as a new private sector ombudsman to resolve disputes between landlords and tenants.

From 1 May 2026, you have the right to request permission to keep a pet once you've moved in. Your landlord will only be able to say no if they have a good reason.

On 1 May 2026, your existing fixed-term contract will automatically convert into a periodic (rolling) tenancy. The original fixed-term end date will no longer apply.

Staying until summer: You have the right to stay in the property until at least 31 August 2026, as long as your landlord serves you the correct notice on 1 May 2026.

Leaving on your original end date: If you still want to leave the property on the original fixed-term end date (e.g. 30 June 2026), you must give your landlord two months' notice on 1 May 2026. Use our 'Notice to Quit' templates to send valid notice to your landlord or letting agent.

Please note: If you give notice after 1 May, your tenancy may not expire until 31 July 2026, and you'll have to pay rent until then. We'd recommend chatting to your landlord to see whether they'll agree to release you from your tenancy on 30 June 2026 anyway through 'mutual surrender'.

Important landlord requirements

If you have a written tenancy agreement, your landlord doesn't need to issue a new one. Instead, they must provide a government-published information sheet (due to be published in March 2026) explaining how the changes impact your tenancy agreement. Your landlord must give you this by 31 May 2026 to avoid being fined.

If you have a verbal tenancy agreement (no written contract), your landlord must provide you with a written summary of the main terms by 31 May 2026.

Special rules for student HMOs

If you live in a student House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) - a shared property with 3 or more unrelated students - and the landlord wants to use the summer eviction rule (Ground 4A) in future, they get a one-month grace period after 1 May 2026 to give you written notice of this. To evict you, they can only do so between 1 June and 30 September and will have to give you four months' notice.

Rent in advance

If you paid several months' rent in advance under a contract signed before 1 May 2026, the landlord does not have to refund any of that. However, once your tenancy converts to a monthly periodic tenancy on 1 May 2026, the landlord cannot ask you to pay more than one month's rent in advance going forward. Any clause in your original contract requiring future advance payments of over one month's rent is now unenforceable.

If you signed your contract before 1 May 2026, your contract will automatically convert into a periodic (rolling) tenancy on 1 May 2026. The original fixed-term end date will no longer apply.

The 6-month rule: Student tenancies can no longer be signed more than six months in advance. However, because you signed your contract before the law changed, your contract remains valid even if you signed your contract beyond this 6-month limit.

Rent in advance

Because you signed before 1 May 2026, the new rent-in-advance cap doesn't affect the agreement you've already entered - even though you haven't moved in yet. If your contract required several months' rent upfront, the landlord can still enforce that. But once your tenancy begins and converts into a periodic tenancy (as it will automatically after 1 May), the landlord cannot ask for any further rent in advance beyond one month at a time.

Everything else

If the landlord writes to you and says they intend to use "Ground 4A", the landlord will have to give you four months' notice to evict you between June and September. You will also gain the right to exit the contract if you give them two months' notice.

Any contract signed after 1 May 2026 for a private HMO will be a periodic (rolling) tenancy from day one. Your landlord will need to provide you with certain information about the tenancy in writing. This should be through a written tenancy agreement.

Special rules for student HMOs

The summer eviction rule (Ground 4A) applies on the normal terms:

• The landlord must provide a written statement before you sign the tenancy saying it's a student let and they intend to re-let to students.
• They can't make you sign more than six months before the tenancy starts (if you're moving in September, you can't sign the tenancy before March).
• Any future eviction claim using Ground 4A must be timed so the notice falls between 1 June and 30 September.

Rent in advance

For all new tenancy agreements signed on or after 1 May 2026, the law now caps rent in advance to a maximum of one month's rent once the tenancy is entered. Landlords or agents cannot legally require larger upfront payments - even if you don't have a UK guarantor. Any attempt to demand 3, 6, or even 12 months' rent in advance would break the law.

If you were already living in the PBSA before 1 May 2026 and have an Assured Shorthold Tenancy ('fixed-term' contract), the changes will affect you in the same way as any other person living in the private rental sector. Your tenancy will have converted into an Assured Periodic Tenancy ('rolling' contract) on 1 May 2026.

Tenancy agreements produced in the run up to the introduction of the new Act may say they are common law tenancies but may not be drafted correctly.

You may instead have an Assured Shorthold Tenancy ('fixed-term' contract) that will have converted to an Assured Periodic Tenancy ('rolling' contract) on 1 May.

Contact us at SU Advice to get your contract checked.

If you signed your contract after 1 May 2026 and the property meets the criteria for the exemption, it is likely your tenancy will be exempt from the Renters' Rights Act.

Check online to see if the property is a member of the National Code.

If the property you live in is not listed, it's not eligible for the PBSA exemption to the Act and you have an Assured Periodic Tenancy ('rolling' contract).

For new tenancies starting on or after 1 February 2016, private landlords, agents, or householders who are letting private rented accommodation or taking in a lodger/subletting, must check their tenant's immigration status before they can offer them a tenancy agreement. This is called the 'right to rent'. This means checking that tenants or lodgers have the right to be in the UK. This also applies to council and housing associations. If you already live in a property before this date then your landlord or letting agent will have to check your right to rent before you move into the property.

Landlords must check the status every year and take a copy of the tenant's documents. If you find your accommodation before you arrive in the UK, your landlord or letting agent will have to check your right to rent before you move into the property.

The right to rent checks should not be carried out more than 28 days before the tenancy is signed.

You have the right to rent if you are one of the following:

• You are a UK citizen
• You are an EEA/Swiss national
• You have the right to be in the UK under EEA law
• You have valid immigration permission to be in the UK
• You do not have valid immigration permission to be in the UK but you have been granted 'permission to rent' by the UK government

You are exempt if:

• You live in an exempt property. This includes student halls of residence; accommodation owned and managed by a higher or further education institution, or a body established for charitable purposes only; and accommodation that you've been nominated to occupy by such an institution or charitable body.
• You are under 18 when you enter into the tenancy agreement; you will remain exempt until the landlord's next set of checks are due, even if you turn 18 during this time.
• You are not using the property as your main or only home in the UK.
• The landlord is immediate family, such as a parent.
• You are a guest in the property, you do not pay rent to stay there, and it is not your only or main home in the UK.
• The property is holiday accommodation and you will be staying there for only a short period of time.

Your landlord or lettings/property agent will need to see original evidence of your right to be in the UK. The following will be sufficient:

• British citizens - Passport (current or expired), or a certificate of registration or naturalisation as a British citizen.
• EEA/Swiss nationals - Passport or national identity card.
• Family members of EEA/Swiss nationals - EEA family permit or residence card.
• People with immigration permission to be in the UK - Current passport containing a valid visa, or a valid Biometric Residence Permit (BRP). If these documents are with the Home Office as part of an ongoing immigration application (or you have a pending appeal or administrative review) then you should give your landlord your Home Office reference number so they can verify this with the Home Office.

If your landlord does not check your immigration status they could be fined up to £3,000.

Your basic legal rights may not be written into your tenancy agreement, but tenants have basic rights set in law.

Tenants are typically responsible for some basic repairs, such as changing lightbulbs.

Under the 1985 Landlord and Tenant Act, the law states that landlords are responsible for:

• The structure and exterior of the property, heating and hot water systems, basins, sinks, and other sanitary installations.
• Gas and electrical appliances.
• Fire safety of furniture and furnishings provided.
• Repairing and keeping in good working order the water heating system.

However, the landlord only legally becomes responsible once they have been notified of the repairs in writing (via post or email).

The law states that, once notified, you have to allow a 'reasonable' amount of time for the landlord to carry out the repairs. The law does not set out what is reasonable, and this is determined on a case by case basis.

Emergency repairs such as broken boilers, a leaking roof or ceiling, or broken toilets should be carried out within one to two days.

For non-urgent repairs, such as a broken cupboard door, we suggest 28 days to be a 'reasonable' amount of time.

If the landlord ignores your requests or refuses to carry out repairs, there are a number of things you can do:

• Try to collect evidence of the disrepair
• Take photos of the disrepair/items damaged by the disrepair
• Gather receipts for the damaged items where possible
• If appropriate, contact your local council to request an inspection of the property

Keep copies of any emails, letters, or others record of any conversations that you have with your landlord/agent.

If your health has been affected by the disrepair, request copies of GP notes.