What Changed for Tenancies That Existed Before May 2026

On 1 May 2026 every private tenancy in England became a rolling periodic tenancy by operation of law. If you are still waiting for a fixed term to expire before the new rules apply to you, you have already been operating under them for months.

What the conversion did to your agreements

Fixed end dates are of no effect

The agreement survives, rent, deposit terms, repair obligations, pet clauses all continue, but any clause fixing an end date, a term-linked break right, or a renewal mechanism is inoperative. The tenancy rolls month to month, matching the rent period, indefinitely.

Tenants leave on two months’ notice, whenever they like

There is no minimum stay to enforce. A tenant eighteen months into what was a three-year term can serve two months’ notice today. Budget for voids, and treat retention as an operational discipline rather than a contractual guarantee.

You leave only through Section 8

Section 21 was abolished completely; it does not survive for pre-existing tenancies, and no new one can be served. Possession requires a Form 3A notice pleading specific grounds. If you served a Section 21 or old-style Section 8 notice before commencement and want to rely on it now, transitional savings are narrow and fact-specific, so take advice before issuing proceedings on a pre-commencement notice.

New obligations that attached to old tenancies

1. The Information Sheet must be served on all tenants, including those who signed years ago. A missing sheet voids an otherwise solid possession claim.
2. Deposit and prescribed information.Courts block Section 8 claims where the deposit is unprotected or the information was never served. Conversion is the moment to audit historic files, because the tenant’s solicitor will.
3. Pet request duty. The 28-day response duty applies to requests from existing tenants.
4. The PRS database (from late 2026). Registration will be required for existing tenancies too, with £7,000 civil penalties for omissions. Record registration IDs before enforcement begins.

Rent reviews on a converted tenancy

With no renewal point to negotiate at, increases run exclusively through Section 13 on Form 4A: minimum two months’ notice, effective on a rent-period anniversary, once every 52 weeks, and referable by the tenant to the First-tier Tribunal before the effective date, which suspends it until determination. Rent-review clauses in old agreements that purport to raise rent automatically are unenforceable. The Section 13 calculator finds the earliest valid effective date.

New tenancies signed after commencement

Tenancies that began on or after commencement are cleaner because nothing converted: they were born periodic, with the compliance file complete from day one, information sheet served, deposit and prescribed information within the window, advertised rent locked (asking or accepting above it is banned, with £7,000 penalties), and the Section 8 grounds available subject to the 12-month restriction on Grounds 1 and 1A. The practical difference is evidential: new stock has a clean paper trail by construction; converted stock needs a retrofit audit.