For years, landlords were told that the abolition of section 21 was coming. On 1 May 2026, it finally happened.

Three months later, my view is that the biggest mistake a landlord can make is to think the Renters’ Rights Act simply replaced section 21 with a few new notices. It did not. It has changed the risk profile of residential letting.

The new tenancy regime took effect for the private rented sector on 1 May 2026. Assured shorthold tenancies have effectively disappeared, tenancies are periodic, new section 21 notices cannot be served, and landlords seeking possession must establish one of the statutory grounds.

At Landlord Action, the questions that concern me most are often deceptively simple:

“I want to sell. Can I get my property back?”

“My tenant has stopped paying. How quickly can I obtain possession?”

“The tenant has asked for a dog. Can I just say no?”

“I have always increased the rent by agreement. Can I still do that?”

Those questions demonstrate the change perfectly. The answer increasingly starts with: show me the paperwork.

Possession is now an evidence exercise

The removal of section 21 means there is no longer a general-purpose route to possession where the landlord simply wants the property returned.

Selling and landlord occupation remain legitimate reasons for seeking possession, but landlords need to understand that these grounds come with conditions and restrictions.

Most importantly, landlords using Grounds 1 or 1A need to be extremely careful about what happens afterwards. There is a 12-month restricted period affecting reletting and remarketing, and misuse can amount to an offence carrying a potential financial penalty of up to £40,000 as an alternative to prosecution.

That changes the conversation.

Previously, the focus was often: is the notice valid?

Increasingly it will be: was the stated reason genuine, what evidence supports it, and what did the landlord do afterwards?

I expect that to become one of the major areas of litigation.

The sleeper issue: enforcement

If possession attracts the headlines, enforcement may ultimately cause landlords the greater financial pain.

Councils now have substantially stronger enforcement tools. Breaches of the new tenancy regime can attract penalties of up to £7,000, while more serious offences can result in penalties of up to £40,000 as an alternative to prosecution.

Rent repayment orders are equally important. For relevant offences committed after 1 May 2026, the potential repayment period has increased from one year’s rent to two years.

That is why I think landlords who still regard licensing, documentation and regulatory compliance as “administration” are taking a considerable risk.

A mistake involving a tenancy worth £2,000 per month is no longer necessarily a minor paperwork problem. In the right circumstances, the sums at stake can become very significant indeed.

Rent increases will become more contentious

Landlords can no longer approach rent increases as casually as some did previously.

Increases are generally limited to once a year and the statutory procedure requires at least two months’ notice.

My advice is to go further than simply completing the correct form.

Keep evidence of comparable properties. Keep the advertisements. Record why the proposed rent reflects the market.

The First-tier Tribunal may increasingly become part of ordinary residential rent management, and landlords should prepare on the assumption that an increase might have to be justified.

Pets: “I’ve always said no” is no longer an answer

Another change already causing uncertainty is pets.

A tenant may request permission to keep a pet and a landlord can only refuse where there is a valid reason. Government guidance envisages landlords considering the particular request rather than applying an automatic prohibition.

I expect disputes about what amounts to a reasonable refusal to produce some interesting decisions over the next few years.

A Great Dane in a small upstairs flat is plainly different from a hamster in a house. The important point is that landlords should reach a reasoned decision based upon the property and the particular animal rather than simply saying: my tenancy agreement says no pets.

The new golden rule: create the evidence before you need it

One message I increasingly give landlords is this:

Do not wait until you need to evict a tenant to discover what is in your file.

• Inspect the property

• Record repairs

• Keep rent schedules

• Retain emails and messages

• Document tenant complaints and your response

• Record decisions about pets

• Retain evidence supporting rent increases

• Check licensing

And above all, make sure the agreement and notices you are using were designed for the post-May 2026 regime.

The official information requirements themselves illustrate how seriously paperwork is now treated: most landlords of existing tenancies were required to provide tenants with the Government’s Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet by 31 May 2026, with a potential penalty of up to £7,000 for failure to comply.

My five predictions for the next 12 months

Possession cases will become more heavily contested

Tenant advisers will increasingly challenge not merely the wording of notices but the factual basis for the ground relied upon. Sale and occupation cases are obvious candidates.

We will see test cases on misuse of possession grounds

The courts and tribunals will have to develop the practical boundaries between a genuine change of circumstances and a landlord who never genuinely intended to sell or occupy.

Rent repayment orders will move firmly into the mainstream

A potential award of up to two years’ rent changes the economics of bringing a claim. I expect considerably greater awareness amongst tenants and their advisers.

Councils will become much more important players in landlord compliance

The combination of wider enforcement duties and penalties of up to £7,000 or £40,000 gives local authorities considerably more leverage than many landlords appreciate.

The professional landlord will outperform the accidental landlord

This is perhaps my strongest prediction. The new regime rewards systems: proper files, inspections, documented decision-making, compliance calendars and early legal advice.

The Renters’ Rights Act has not made being a landlord impossible. But it has made being an amateur landlord considerably more dangerous.

For those of us involved in possession and landlord-and-tenant disputes, the direction of travel is already apparent. The successful possession case of the future will often have been won months before the notice was served, because the landlord kept the right records and took the right steps.

Three months after commencement, that is the lesson I would urge every landlord to take from the new regime:

Compliance is no longer something you check when a tenancy goes wrong. It is how you prevent it from going wrong in the first place.