The first of May has come and gone. The headlines have moved on. And most of our landlords are now asking a slightly different question: not “what’s changing?”, but “how does this actually change things?”
If you let property anywhere from Bexhill and Hastings to Rye and Tenterden, here is a calm, practical walk through what the new periodic tenancy regime really means day to day.
Fixed terms have quietly disappeared
Every assured shorthold tenancy in England converted to an assured periodic tenancy on 1 May 2026. New tenancies can no longer have a fixed term at all.
In practice, that means your tenants are now on rolling, monthly agreements with no end date. For most well-managed lettings, very little feels different on the ground but the legal framework has changed considerably.
Notice works differently now
Tenants can give two months’ notice to leave at any time, regardless of how long they’ve been in the property. That’s a meaningful shift away from the old fixed-term certainty.
On the landlord side, Section 21 no-fault notices are no longer available. To regain possession, you’ll need to use one of the Section 8 grounds. If the reason is that you or a close family member would like to move in or you want to sell, you must wait at least twelve months from the start of the tenancy and then give four months’ notice.
It sounds more involved on paper. In reality, most partings still happen by mutual conversation rather than court paperwork.
Rent increases follow a new annual rhythm
Perhaps the biggest day-to-day change. Rent can now only be increased once a year, and only by serving a formal Section 13 notice on Form 4A.
You’ll need to give your tenant two months’ written notice rather than the old one, and any rent-review clauses tucked away in older tenancy agreements are no longer enforceable. The figure you propose must also be in line with the open market rent.
If a tenant takes your proposed increase to the tribunal, the panel can only accept your figure or set a lower one. They can’t go above it. That makes a challenge effectively a one-way bet for the tenant, so a little extra care in evidencing your proposed rent is time well spent. While a tribunal reviews the proposed increase, rent is frozen at the current rate.
What it means in practice
For most landlords with good tenants, the new world feels a touch quieter than the headlines suggested. The annual rent review needs a little more planning. Conversations about a property’s future need to start a little earlier. Beyond that, the fundamentals haven’t moved.
Being a fair, communicative landlord who looks after a good home is still the surest way to keep things running smoothly.
If you’d like a hand reviewing your current tenancies, preparing a Section 13 notice, or simply thinking through what all this means for your property, we’d be very glad to talk it through.
