Lauren Elcock, 31, is leaving London for Manchester because she can no longer afford her rent. She pays £850 per month for a room in a shared rental in north-east London, with her rent having increased by £250 over the past five years. After being made redundant in May 2025, she has since juggled four jobs, including dog walking and working in a local gym.
A national housing demonstration on Saturday brought together tenant groups, housing campaigners, and trade unions to demand more measures to make rent affordable. Average UK monthly private rents increased by 3.5% to £1,367 in the 12 months to September 2025, according to provisional Office for National Statistics estimates. Only five London postcodes still have sub-£800 average room rents, down from 81 postcodes in 2020, according to Spareroom analysis.
The Renters' Rights Act comes into effect on 1 May 2026, introducing sweeping changes to tenant protections. The legislation requires landlords to give two months' notice to raise rent and limits rent increases to once per year to 'the market rate'. Tenants can challenge excessive rent increases at a first-tier tribunal under the Renters' Rights Act. The act bans 'bidding wars', preventing new tenants from being asked to pay more than the advertised price, according to sources. It also bans 'no-fault' evictions, requiring landlords to provide a proper reason for eviction, such as selling the property. Fixed-term tenancies will be abolished under the Renters' Rights Act, allowing renters to end tenancies at any time with two months' notice. The act will transition all tenancies to rolling periodic arrangements, replacing fixed-term contracts, according to sources. Landlords must rely on defined legal grounds to end a tenancy under the Renters' Rights Act, such as serious rent arrears, the landlord needing to move in, or plans to sell, according to sources. The Renters' Rights Act gives renters greater rights to challenge poor conditions and unreasonable rent increases without fear of retaliatory eviction, according to sources. It bans landlords from demanding more than one month's rent upfront and introduces stronger protections against discrimination to ensure fair access to housing, according to sources.
Survey data reveals the scale of recent rent increases and evictions. 30% of tenants who stayed in the same rental property have had their rents increased since the Renters' Rights Act received Royal Assent almost six months ago, according to a Spareroom survey of 4,500 tenants in England. 11% of tenants across all tenants have been evicted or received notice of an eviction, according to the Spareroom survey.
Charities report increasing numbers of landlords are evicting tenants at the last minute before the Renters' Rights Act bans no-fault evictions. No-fault evictions made up one in five reports from Acorn members in October, rising to nearly one in three by January, according to the renters' union Acorn. Kim Mansell, 36, was served a no-fault eviction notice in June after her rent was increased by 11% at the start of last year. Her landlord, the 999 Club, has advertised her flat at a price 36% higher than what she is paying. No-fault eviction notices issued before 1 May can still proceed if legal action begins before 31 July.
The private rental sector faces significant contraction, with nearly a quarter of a million (220,000) rental properties expected to disappear from the private rental sector in England by the end of 2026, according to a Pepper Money study. The private rented sector's value declined by 5.1% (£48 billion) in 2025, the biggest drop this century, according to Savills data.
Implementation details include tenants receiving the UK Government's Renters' Rights information sheet by 31 May.