The Property Disputes landscape in 2026: key trends for landlords and tenants

Parts of the Renters Rights Act 2025 will take effect from 1 May 2026, marking the biggest change to residential tenancies in recent years.

The government will also set out initiatives to explore reforms to the security of tenure for commercial tenancies and a ban on upward-only rent reviews.

The proposed legislative changes could have a significant impact on landlords and tenants alike. This article reviews some of the key (potential) changes expected in 2026.

Below, I will review some of the key (potential) changes to the legislation coming in 2026.

Renters Rights Act 2025

From 1 May 2026, tenants will no longer have fixed-term tenancies. All assured shorthold tenancies will be replaced by periodic tenancies.

Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 (“HA 1988”) will be abolished, meaning landlords will not be able to evict tenants using the ‘no-fault eviction’ route. Instead, landlords will be required to rely on one or more of the statutory grounds for possession. The grounds are similar to those currently in Schedule 2 of the HA 1988, meaning notice can be served where a tenant fails to pay rent or if there is a breach of the tenancy agreement.

There will, however, be some major changes. Landlords can serve notice on tenants when they plan to sell the property or when they (or their families) want to occupy it themselves.

Overall, as the intention of Parliament is to give tenants greater rights over their homes, it is likely that judges will place a heavy burden on landlords to prove they can properly satisfy one or more of the statutory grounds.

In addition, landlords can only increase rents once per year and will be required to give tenants 2 months’ notice. If a tenant disputes the increase, an application can be made to the Tribunal to determine the level of rent. It remains to be seen how this will impact the Tribunal service, which is already overstretched.

Landlord and Tenant Act 1954

The government published its first consultation on potential reform of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (“LTA 1954”) on 4 June 2025. The purpose of the consultation is to consider whether security for tenure for business tenants should be changed.

Commercial tenants benefit from a right to remain in occupation of a property under Part II of the LTA 1954, known as security of tenure. This is an automatic statutory right for a lease renewal for all tenants occupying a property for the purposes of a business. Security of tenure can be contracted out if the parties follow the proper procedure (known as ‘contracting out’).

The consultation considers whether the contracting-out method should continue or if it should be changed. It also looked at what types of tenancies should benefit from security of tenure and the duration of the benefit.

The initial conclusion is that the contracting out method is the “right model” and the benefit should not be extended to agricultural tenancies. There is a second consultation to exclude tenancies from benefitting from security of tenure where the term is under two years.

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024

Despite being given Royal Assent in 2024, the majority of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 (“LFRA 2024”) has not yet come into force. One of the biggest changes (which came into effect on 31 January 2025) to leasehold enfranchisement so far is the abolition of the ‘2-year rule’. This means a leaseholder no longer has to have owned their property for 2 years before they can begin the statutory procedure to extend their lease. However, a notice to begin the lease extension procedure can only be served when a person becomes the registered proprietor (note: there are still long delays at the Land Registry, so the registration gap could cause delays for leaseholders).

The government promised to abolish the marriage value and increase the statutory term for lease extensions (from 90 to 990 years), but those changes have not come into effect yet.

In R (on the application of ARC Time Freehold Income Authorised Fund and others) v The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government [2025] EWHC 2751 (Admin), various landlords (including charities) challenged the legality of LFRA under Article 1 of Protocol 1 of the Human Rights Act 1998 which protects the right to peaceful enjoyment of possessions. The court dismissed the claimants’ claim in the first instance, but with an appeal potentially looming, LFRA 2024 will likely not be coming into force anytime soon.

If a judgment is given in the first half of 2026, the government may well act quickly in bringing further changes to leasehold property shortly after, so watch this space!

How we can help

In an ever-changing landlord and tenant landscape, there is much uncertainty for both landlords and tenants.

If you have a query about how the changes may affect you, please do not hesitate to contact the Property Disputes team here at Greenwoods.