Landlords' questions, answered

No. Since 1 May 2026 every tenancy is a rolling assured periodic tenancy. The tenant can leave on two months' notice, and you can only end it on a statutory ground.

No. Section 21 ended on 1 May 2026. You now need a section 8 notice on Form 3A, naming one or more grounds.

Use Ground 1A to sell or Ground 1 to move in yourself or let a close family member move in. You must give four months' notice, the notice cannot end in the first 12 months of the tenancy, and you cannot re-let or market the property to let until 12 months after the notice ends.

Yes. The tenancy passes to the buyer unchanged. This avoids the possession process but limits buyers to other investors, and the price will reflect that.

For a sale or move-in, just over twelve months into the tenancy at the earliest, since the four-month notice cannot end before then, and only if the tenant leaves when the notice ends. If the tenant stays and you need a court order, add several months more. Arrears and anti-social behaviour cases have shorter notice periods but can still take many months if contested.

Relying on a ground you could not prove is a breach that can bring a civil penalty. Doing it knowingly or recklessly, where the tenant then leaves, is a criminal offence. The tenant can also apply for a rent repayment order of up to two years' rent.

Serve a section 13 notice on Form 4A, giving at least two months' notice. You can do this once a year.

Yes. They can refer it to the First-tier Tribunal before the new rent starts. The tribunal decides the market rent for the property.

No. It cannot go above the figure in your notice. It can set a lower figure, and in some decisions it has set rents below what the tenant was already paying.

From the date of the decision, not the date in your notice. Nothing is backdated, and the start can be put back by up to two months for hardship.

No. You must advertise a rent and cannot invite, encourage or accept higher offers.

Not before the tenancy agreement is signed. A holding deposit of up to one week's rent is still allowed. Once the tenancy starts, the tenant cannot be required to pay more than one rent period in advance.

No. It is still five weeks' rent, or six weeks where the rent is £50,000 a year or more. It must be protected and the prescribed information given within 30 days.

No. Both were proposed during the Bill and dropped. The normal deposit is the only security you hold for pet damage.

28 days, in writing. If you reasonably ask for more information, you have until seven days after the tenant gives it.

Only the payments the Tenant Fees Act 2019 allows: rent, the capped deposit, a holding deposit, certain bills, interest on late rent and the reasonable cost of replacing lost keys. Admin, referencing, inventory and renewal fees are banned.

The register opens region by region from late 2026, and registration becomes compulsory in each region during 2027. There will be an annual fee per landlord and property, not yet confirmed.

The government expects membership to become compulsory in 2028 and has promised notice beforehand.

No. The landlord ombudsman is separate. Landlords must join it themselves.

For some properties, yes. Margins are thinner, rent growth slower and the cost of mistakes higher, and from April 2027 rental profit is taxed four points more than other income. The answer depends on what your property earns on the cash you have in it.

Add your property to LEXIT. It shows what it leaves you after costs, mortgage and tax for each of the next ten years, what a sale would leave you after capital gains tax, and whether it is worth holding.

Sell with the tenant in place to another investor or a portfolio buyer; sell to the tenant; or get vacant possession under Ground 1A and sell on the open market.