30 days under the Renters' Rights Act: what UK letting agencies are actually seeing

The first month of the Renters' Rights Act has produced more questions than answers. The legislation read clean enough on paper. The operational reality is messier.

We've been talking to letting agencies and property managers across the country since the Act took effect on 1 May 2026. This is the picture of what's actually happening in inboxes, on the phones, and in the back office - not what the trade press predicted, but what's playing out in practice.

If you're an agency principal or a head of lettings, this is the snapshot to read before your June leadership meeting.

A quick recap of what changed on day one

If you spent April reading the survival guides, skip this section. For everyone else:

• Fixed-term assured shorthold tenancies are gone. Every new tenancy is a periodic assured tenancy from day one.
• Section 21 "no-fault" possession has been abolished. All possession routes are now grounds-based and require evidence.
• Pet requests must be considered and responded to in writing. Refusal needs a reason a tribunal would recognise.
• Rent increases follow a single statutory route - Section 13 - once per year, with tenants able to challenge at the First-tier Tribunal.
• The Decent Homes Standard now applies to the private rented sector.

We've covered these in detail in our survival guide and the week-one checklist. What follows is what we're seeing four weeks later.

What's actually flooding the inbox

Three categories of enquiry have spiked across every agency we've spoken to.

Pet requests. Volume is up roughly four-fold compared to April. Most are reasonable: a cat, a small dog, a fish tank. The friction isn't the request - it's the new requirement to respond in writing within a defined window, with a defensible reason if you refuse. Agencies that used a verbal "the landlord said no" in 2025 are now writing structured letters. Agencies that haven't built a template are losing two hours a week per branch on this alone.

"What does periodic mean for me?" from tenants. Tenants who signed in April under the old fixed-term regime are confused about whether anything changed for them. It did - their tenancy converted on 1 May. The questions look like: can I still leave with two months' notice? When does my rent review happen? Am I allowed to stay forever?

"How do I get rid of a tenant now?" from landlords. This is the hardest call to take. Most landlords with this question don't actually have grounds. Their previous answer - Section 21 - has been removed, and the new grounds require evidence they don't have. The agencies that handle these calls well are doing two things: documenting every conversation, and pushing landlords toward mediation or sale rather than possession.

Where the tribunals are getting busy

Two pressure points are forming.

Rent increase challenges. The Section 13 route is now the only legal way to raise rent on an assured tenancy, and tenants have a one-month window to challenge any increase at the First-tier Tribunal. Early indications from tribunal listings suggest a sharp rise in rent challenge applications versus the same period last year. Agencies that got their Section 13 process right in April are sailing through. Agencies that improvised are seeing increases struck out.

Possession claims with weak grounds. Some landlords issued possession notices in late May using grounds they don't really have. Those claims are now hitting court and being dismissed. The lesson: a notice without evidence isn't a notice - it's a delay tactic that costs money.

The shift no one is talking about

The biggest operational change isn't on the legal side. It's the loss of the renewal conversation.

Under the old fixed-term model, every six or twelve months you had a structured moment with the tenant: renew, rebuild rent, refresh terms. That conversation is gone. Periodic tenancies just continue. There's no diary entry, no automatic rent review, no checkpoint.

Agencies who relied on the renewal moment to surface issues - repairs the tenant hadn't reported, rent reviews the landlord wanted, lifestyle changes affecting suitability - now have nothing scheduled. The good agencies are building a quarterly tenant check-in to replace it. The agencies who haven't are flying blind.

What good agencies are doing differently

Three patterns we're seeing in the agencies that look calm in week four:

• They built written templates before 1 May. Pet refusal letters, Section 13 increase notices, periodic-tenancy explainers for tenants. They aren't drafting from scratch every time.
• They're logging every landlord conversation. Especially the difficult ones. When a landlord later asks why you didn't push harder for possession, you need the record.
• They've replaced the renewal moment with a scheduled check-in. Either at six months, or annually around the rent review date. It's a deliberate event, not an ad-hoc call.

What to do this week if you're behind

If your agency is still catching up, prioritise in this order:

• Write your pet response template. It's the highest-volume new task. Standardise it.
• Audit any possession notices issued since 1 May. If the grounds aren't supported by documentary evidence, withdraw them now rather than have them dismissed.
• Diary a rent review date for every tenancy. Without renewals, this is the only mechanism left.
• Brief your front-office team on the periodic explainer. They will field tenant calls daily for the next six months.

For a deeper dive, we cover rent increases under Section 13 and the Written Statement of Terms in separate posts.

What we expect in June and July

A few predictions based on the call patterns we're tracking:

• Possession claim volumes will peak in late June as the first wave of evidence-backed Section 8 claims work through the courts.
• Pet refusal disputes will start appearing at deposit-protection adjudication. Tenants who were refused will challenge through other routes.
• Selective licensing renewal correspondence (covered in our selective licensing post) will collide with student-let season - expect July inbox volumes to be the highest of the year.

Frequently asked questions

Has the Section 21 abolition affected possession of tenancies that started before 1 May 2026?

Yes. From 1 May, no Section 21 notice can be relied upon, regardless of when the tenancy began. Existing fixed-term tenancies converted to periodic on that date.

Can a tenant still give two months' notice?

A tenant on a periodic assured tenancy gives two months' notice in writing. This hasn't materially changed.

What's the difference between a Section 13 challenge and a tribunal application?

A Section 13 challenge is a tribunal application. The tenant fills in form Rents 1 and the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) determines the market rent.

If my landlord wants to sell, what do I do?

Ground 1A allows possession when the landlord intends to sell. It requires evidence of intent (estate agent instruction, marketing material) and a four-month notice period.

The takeaway

The first thirty days have shown us that the agencies who treated 1 May as a deadline are doing fine. The ones who treated it as a surprise are still firefighting. The Act is workable - but only with process discipline.

And it's more important than ever to have a detailed audit trail of all the communication coming in and out of your agency. OdjoAI makes it easier than ever by organising all communication into cases, with updates and tasks all in one place.