Commencement date (1st May 2026)
A commencement date is the date on which a new Act of Parliament, regulation or specific section of a law officially comes into force and starts to apply in practice. Before the commencement date, the law may be on the statute book but is not yet legally “live” for most purposes.
For the Renters’ Rights Act, the main commencement date is 1st May 2026. From that date, key reforms for landlords and tenants begin to apply, such as changes to how possession can be regained, strengthened standards, and new enforcement and redress mechanisms. Some parts of the Act may have different commencement dates, or be phased in for new tenancies first and existing tenancies later, but 1st May 2026 is the core reference point most renters and landlords will see.
When checking your rights or obligations, it is important to ask whether the relevant event, for example, a notice being served, a tenancy starting, or a breach occurring, happened before or after the commencement date, as different legal rules may apply.
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