From BBC England yesterday:
Described as the biggest shake-up to renting in England for more than 30 years, a new law giving tenants more rights was formally approved at the end of October. The government has now confirmed that the main changes will come into force from 1 May 2026. The new rules will affect more than 11 million people.
No mention of Scotland is being made. Why should it be?
The Renters’ Rights Act will bring the English private rented sector much closer to the system Scotland has had since 2017 under Private Residential Tenancies (PRTs), but some meaningful differences will remain. Scotland has already operated a periodic/open-ended tenancy model with no no-fault evictions for nearly a decade. England is now adopting a similar framework, so tenants in England will gain significant new protections that Scottish tenants have long enjoyed. However, Scotland retains some advantages in tenant flexibility and has additional tools like potential local rent controls.
https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/what-the-renters-rights-act-means-for-tenants-from-may.html
What are the advantages in the Scottish system?
Renters only have to give 28 days notice as opposed to 2 months so it’s easier to move.
Longer minimum notice periods for the landlord, higher penalties for unlawful eviction, localised rent caps in areas of high demand.
Sources:
- Official legislation: Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 – Part 2 (Evictions) and full contents. legislation.gov.uk
- Brodies LLP summary: The Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 and the Renters’ Rights Act (explicitly notes the new duty to consider delaying eviction). brodies.com
- Gilson Gray: Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 – New Tenant Rights (covers delay consideration and Tribunal weighing of circumstances). gilsongray.co.uk
- Scottish Landlords / Citylets summaries on increased damages (3–36 months’ rent) and Tribunal duties. https://scottishlandlords.com/news-and-campaigns/news/housing-scotland-act-2025-update/
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My daughter and her partner rent a flat in London, so I am pleased that the Rent Act will come into operation in England on 1, May. On the whole, their landlord for the past 10 years has been pretty decent. Nevertheless they are delighted with the provisions of the new Act.
The BBC Business section has a big article on the imminent implementation of the act, and, as is usually the case the BBC headlines a landlord who feels she is being badly treated by a tenant. This is dog whistling seeking to have sympathy with the landlord whom they are implying is a typical landlord trying to earn a crust. They are inviting us to generalise from this particular case and to judge the Act as oppressive.
The landlord in this instance does appear to have a reasonable case and it can be dealt with by law. But, as the story is framed and positioned in the article it is pro-landlords.
The article later goes on to report on the difficulties some renters have experienced over the years. This does, indeed, lead to a balanced whole article, but the headlining and the report on one specific landlord’s problem take up a lot of space before the counter arguments are made.
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