On May 1, 2026, one of Margaret Thatcher’s key legacies will be rewritten. “Assured shorthold tenancies,” the default form of tenancy for renters in England, will be abolished as part of the Renters’ Rights Act.
This means that “no fault” evictions — where a landlord can end a tenancy for no reason other than the current tenancy period coming to an end — will also be abolished. Instead, all current and future tenancies will be open-ended, only terminating if the tenant hands in notice or the landlord has valid grounds to regain control of the property.
In addition, up-front payments of rent will be capped at one month, renters will have stronger rights to keep pets, and “rental bidding” will be banned. However, another critical legacy of Thatcherism, the end of rent controls, will remain in place.
Landlords will also still have grounds to evict a renter who has abided by their rental agreement — for example, if the landlord wishes to return to living in a property that used to be their home, if they have decided to sell up, or if the tenant is in rent arrears.
By replacing insecure tenancies with long-term tenancies and strengthening renters’ rights in a series of areas, the new piece of legislation will represent the biggest change for renters since the 1980s. As such, it represents a partial break with the way in which private rented housing has been organized under neoliberalism in Britain (due to devolution, Scotland has had comparable reforms since 2017, while more limited reforms were enacted in Wales in 2016).
It may even mark the beginning of the end of a period where the living standards of renters and homeowners have significantly diverged. After nearly a decade of campaigning from renters’ unions and groups, pressure has yielded a whole suite of reforms.
At the same time, the level of progress should not be overstated. The affordability of private rents, already close to being the worst in Europe, remains barely addressed….
Auteur: Adam Peggs
