James Cleverly, the shadow housing secretary, telling the audience at a housing summit in London that he has just received an eviction notice from his own landlord, has an almost poetic quality. The man who warned about a “six-month fire sale” of rental properties for the majority of the previous year is now packing boxes. Even if you tried, you couldn’t write a better script.
Nevertheless, thousands of living rooms throughout England are witnessing the same scene, which Inside Housing magazine will not cover. The landlords are selling. Tenants are in a hurry. Landlord Action’s phones are still ringing.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Legislation | Renters’ Rights Act 2025 |
| Effective Date | 1 May 2026 |
| Section 21 Status | Abolished for new notices after 1 May 2026 |
| Existing Section 21 Deadline | Court action must begin by 31 July 2026 |
| Rent Increase Notice | Minimum 2 months, once per year |
| Rent in Advance Cap | One month maximum |
| Tenancy Type | Open-ended periodic (fixed-term abolished) |
| Pet Requests | Must be considered within 28 days |
| Section 8 Notice Period | Typically 4 months |
| Housing Minister | Matthew Pennycook |
| Shadow Housing Secretary | James Cleverly |
| Reported Eviction Instruction Rise | 60% year-on-year (March 2026) |
Instructions have increased by 60% since March of last year, according to Paul Shamplina, who founded the company and has spent decades observing the rhythms of the rental market. The number of inquiries has increased by 75%. There’s no reason to doubt him when he claims that it’s the highest spike ever recorded. Shamplina is not a theatrical person; his voice conveys the tired assurance of someone who saw this coming and made repeated attempts to express it.
The Renters’ Rights Act is a truly significant piece of legislation that will take effect on May 1. No-fault evictions are no longer possible. Open-ended periodic tenancies have taken the place of fixed-term ones. Rent increases are limited to one annual increase with two months’ notice. pet requests that need to be taken into account. On paper, it seems like a long-overdue correction to a sector that has been biased for decades in favor of property owners. In actuality, the weeks leading up to its arrival have resembled a stampede heading for the door.
Matthew Pennycook, the minister of housing, maintains that there isn’t a spike. This week, he informed Parliament that between October and December of last year, Section 21 accelerated possession claims actually decreased by 17%. The figures are fairly accurate. However, in April, three weeks away, they describe a different moment than what landlords and real estate brokers are currently describing. Both of these could be true. Autumn is quiet, spring is chaotic. Deadlines frequently operate in this manner.
Ministers seem to be reading from a different script than what is happening on the high street, though. In a commuter town, you can see it every time you walk past an estate agent’s window: stickers that say “tenanted investment” are peeling off and being replaced by listings for vacant possession. Last month, I spoke with a landlord in the Midlands who managed a small portfolio of four apartments and informed me that she had made the decision to sell two of them before May. “I’m not a villain,” she declared. “I just don’t understand the new system, and I can’t afford to find out the hard way.” It hardly matters if that anxiety is warranted or exaggerated by headlines. She has already made up her mind.
What occurs on the other side is the more difficult question, the one that nobody really wants to answer. Section 21 was awkward and frequently cruel; families were uprooted at random, two months’ notice was given, and no justification was needed. It is justifiable to end it. However, the landlords who are currently leaving may not have been the target of the reforms. Seldom do the Cowboys go first. Quietly cashing out are the mid-sized, compliance-focused operators with one or two properties and little tolerance for court backlogs.
For months, Shelter and other tenant charities have been alerting people to the possibility of a difficult transition. Labour maintains that the long term is more important than the short term, and they might be correct. May 1st may be seen by history as the turning point in the development of renting in England. However, the long game is cold comfort to the tenants who are getting notices this month, including, somewhat unbelievably, the shadow housing secretary. Packing is still required for the boxes. They are being forced back into the same market that initially caused the breakdown.
It’s difficult to ignore how predictable everything was and how nobody seems to have benefited from it.
