In February this year, 31-year-old Vania Cotta received an email: “Section 21 notice,” it began. “You are required to leave the below address after 30th April 2026.” No reason was given for the eviction. “It was a shock,” says Cotta. “I almost feel like I’m grieving.” Cotta and her husband had moved into the flat in Kenton, north-west London, in October 2020; their two-year-old daughter was born in 2024. “It’s an amazing area. We finally felt that we were part of the community and church, which we’ve never felt living anywhere else. It feels like home — but I should have known a rental place can never be my home.”
Until now, Section 21 evictions have allowed landlords to end a tenancy without providing a reason. But they will be outlawed under the long-awaited Renters’ Rights Act, which comes into force on May 1. Now, if a landlord wants possession of their property, tenants must be given four months’ notice, plus a 12-month protected period at the beginning of their tenancy.
As well as abolishing no-fault evictions, the legislation will make rental homes safer, remove fixed-term tenancies, crack down on discrimination and prohibit landlords and agents from accepting offers above the advertised rent. Landlords will be limited to one rent increase a year, capped at the market rate, and tenants will have greater power to challenge unreasonable rent rises.
But on the eve of its introduction, how will the Renters’ Rights Act change the landscape for tenants — and does it go far enough?
“The changes in the Renters’ Rights Act are long overdue,” says Clara Collingwood, director of the Renters’ Reform Coalition. “Most importantly, the end of ‘no fault’ Section 21 evictions will reduce the huge power imbalance between landlords and tenants. After years of renters campaigning and fighting for our rights, this heartless practice will soon be a thing of the past.” The act, agrees SpareRoom communications director Matt Hutchinson, will finally offer tenants like Cotta and her family some stability. “Home is a fundamental thing in people’s lives. If you are constantly under threat of having to move at a date that is out of your control, it’s very hard to plan, put down roots — or do any of the things you need for a happy, productive life.”
But despite the protections awaiting tenants, rent rises and no-fault evictions have increased in the run-up to the act’s introduction. According to data from SpareRoom, 28 per cent of London renters have seen their rents go up since October 27 when the bill received Royal Assent, while 12 per cent have been served a Section 21. “Landlords are using this as a kind of watershed. I think it’s making some landlords question why they want to be a landlord,” says Hutchinson. “Being a landlord is a serious business and they need to understand legislation; be prepared to work.”
According to Jonathan Isaac, regional director at Hamptons, supply is being stretched by landlords leaving the market and fewer buy-to-let investors. “There is too much exposure,” he says. “And that’s before you consider the backdrop of being a landlord being a particularly unfriendly environment in recent years: tax bills, lower yields, maintenance costs. They’re looking for other ways to invest their capital.”
This is pushing rents up and driving competition: London rents have risen by 2.2 per cent since the same time last year, while March saw a 14 per cent increase in the number of tenants starting their search, according to Hamptons. “I think that’s one of the biggest uplifts that we’ve ever seen,” says Isaac. “We’re definitely not seeing that in stock, so sadly it will drive prices in the wrong direction for tenants.”
For all its protections, Hutchinson remains concerned about the act’s ability to make renting more affordable. According to SpareRoom, the average rent for a room in London is now £978 per month, with a salary of at least £32,000 needed to afford even the capital’s cheapest rents. “[The act] can put a ceiling on rents not going up by too much, but if they’ve already gone up by an astronomical amount and people are stretched with affordability, that’s only half the battle,” he says. “You need to find ways to bring rents down.”
“I think it’s brilliant. It’s about time something like this was brought in to stop landlords abusing the system”
To 29-year-old Robert, who preferred not to give his surname, the Renters’ Rights Act offers protection from expensive upfront payments. “I think it’s brilliant. It’s about time that something like this was brought in to stop landlords abusing the system — like the fact that I don’t have to pay so much in advance or pay more than the asking price. It gives me peace of mind.”
In 2025, Robert and his ex-partner, who are both freelancers, were forced to pay six months’ rent upfront (£11,100) and to agree to a three per cent rent rise after a year. In 2023, at their previous rental, they paid a year’s rent in advance — about £20,000 — and then the same to renew the tenancy. “I had to make that decision instantly, and it’s a lot of money,” he says. “I’d spent that first year building back up what I’d spent, and then it all came back out again and I was back to square one.”
Like Cotta, 43-year-old Christopher French was one of a number of tenants served with a Section 21 notice in the lead-up to the Renters’ Rights Act. He shares Robert’s optimism. “I’m very pleased that [the act] is coming through. It will help protect a lot of people, and I’m very grateful to that.”
French and his partner Ryan Rose had moved into a flat in Kennington in January 2025 on a three-year lease, hoping to put down roots in the area and save for a property of their own. They paid £2,900pcm in rent. But in October, not long before the contract’s break clause, French and Rose were issued with a Section 21. The landlord, they were told, would be moving back into the property.
Although they had committed to the flat as a long-term home, they now had two months to find somewhere else to live — all in time for Christmas. “It was the most demoralising thing. We were so happy in that place,” says French. “To be in that mindset and then to have the rug ripped from under you was really destabilising.”
But as freelancers — French is a self-employed consultant and Rose is a costume designer — and a mixed-race gay couple, navigating the rental market has not always been easy. “We know that we have faced discrimination previously,” says French. When the couple put an offer on a property during a previous search, they were advised to continue looking. “That was direct discrimination,” says French. “These things start playing on your mind, going to see other places.”
Luckily, French and Rose moved into a new property in the same area in November. They now pay £100 per month more, had to “plead” to leave early and footed the bill for moving and an end of tenancy clean. With just two months to raise a new deposit, the couple have taken out a loan, which they are still paying off. “We’re now settled here, but again, there’s still a few days to go [until the act comes in]. We’re holding off on reporting anything or saying that there are any issues, just in case.”
After five-and-a-half years in Kenton, having just two months to find a new home was also difficult for Cotta and her family. With a toddler, she found that the pool of suitable properties was smaller — and that her offers were being rejected. “We have to see places that are safe for our kid. You can’t just move to any place. The reason we’ve been getting said no to a lot is because some places won’t accept you: they’ll say the space is too small for a child, or some places in flats or on top of shops will say no,” she says. “It’s almost like applying for a job, where they send those emails: ‘We regret to inform you…’”
Cotta did have an offer accepted and even agreed on a move-in date on another property, but the landlord insisted on being paid in cash and refused to protect the couple’s deposit in a government-approved scheme. This has been a legal requirement since 2007. Cotta and her husband chose not to proceed, but as their deadline loomed, she worried that they would be made homeless.
Luckily, with a week to go, Cotta and her family have finally found a new home. They will have to leave their community and move across London. But after May 1, she — and other tenants around the country — will not receive a Section 21 again. “It’s a good thing for renters,” says Cotta. “Our waiting season was chaotic and pushed us to our limits, but it finally looks like we’re at the end of this… It’s a new beginning.”
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