Good afternoon,
We’re writing to inform you of guidance updates which have gone live today. This is to reflect new guidance on the Written Statement of Terms and further detail on transitional provisions. These updates, which cover Ground 4A, the Written Statement of Terms, Section 13, and legacy assured tenancies, have been reflected across our relevant GOV.UK landlord guidance, as well as our landlord campaign site.
Details of the changes have been included below:
Ground 4A/ student landlords:
Section 13/ rent increase changes:
If you give your tenant notice of a rent increase using Form 4 before 1st May 2026, the rent increase will still apply, even if the new rent starts after that date. The minimum notice periods set out in Form 4 will apply.
If your tenant thinks that the rent increase is above the open-market rate they will still be able to ask the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to decide what the new rent amount should be. The FTT will determine a rent that is the same, higher or lower than the rent that you proposed in Form 4 and require that the new rent is paid from the date in the section 13 notice. If the tenant would suffer undue financial hardship by having to pay the rent from the notice date, the FTT will be able to order a delay up until the date of its decision.
Legacy assured tenancies
A relatively small number of private rented sector non-shorthold assured tenancies which began before the Act, sometimes referred to as ‘lifetime’ assured tenancies, were created with the understanding that the tenant would have enhanced security compared to ASTs.
After 1 May 2026, private landlords will gain access to the ‘selling’ ground for possession, Ground 1A. Landlords of non-shorthold ‘lifetime’ assured tenancies are not currently able to evict their tenant to sell the property.
Written Information landlords must give to tenants:
As you know, after 1 May 2026, landlords will need to provide new and some existing tenants with certain information about the terms of new tenancies in writing. Landlords will be able to comply with this requirement by including the information in a written tenancy agreement.
We have now published extended guidance explaining the content of this draft legislation in an easier to read format for landlords and letting agents. As a reminder, this is still a draft and therefore may change. We will publish the final version of the legislation and guidance in March 2026. Landlords of existing tenancies that have a written record of the tenancy’s terms don’t need to provide this information. Instead they’ll need to give a government-produced information sheet to all their tenants, which will explain what the new rules mean for the tenancy.
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