Since 1 May 2026, Section 21 “no-fault” eviction has been abolished in England and every assured shorthold tenancy has become an assured periodic tenancy. Cambridge landlords now need a Section 8 ground to regain possession, can raise rent only once a year by Section 13 notice, and had to issue tenants the government Information Sheet by 31 May 2026.
If you let a property in Cambridge, the tenancy you signed last year is not the tenancy you have today. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025, and its first and largest phase came into force on 1 May 2026. It applied automatically to tenancies that were already running – which is the part that has caught most landlords out.
This guide is written as of August 2026. It covers what changed, what it means in a city where a large share of lets go to students, researchers and visiting academics, and exactly what you need on file. Where the position is still moving, we say so rather than guess.
What actually changed on 1 May 2026?
Eight things changed at once, and they apply to existing tenancies as well as new ones.
| What changed | What it means for you |
| Section 21 abolished | You can no longer serve a no-fault notice, even if your tenancy agreement says you can. Every possession claim needs a Section 8 ground and evidence. |
| Fixed terms gone | All assured tenancies are periodic. Existing assured shorthold tenancies converted automatically on 1 May 2026. |
| Tenant notice | Your tenant can end the tenancy with two months’ notice to quit – less if the agreement provides for it. |
| Rent increases | Once per twelve months only, by Section 13 notice on prescribed Form 4A, with at least two months’ notice. |
| Rental bidding banned | You must advertise a specific proposed rent and cannot invite or accept offers above it. |
| Rent in advance capped | No more than one month’s rent in advance on a new tenancy. |
| Discrimination banned | You cannot refuse applicants because they have children or receive benefits. |
| Written terms required | Every new tenancy needs a written statement of terms. |
If you served a Section 21 notice before 1 May 2026, you had until 31 July 2026 to apply to court. That window has now closed. Any possession claim started today needs a Section 8 ground.
Source: Guide to the Renters’ Rights Act, MHCLG, gov.uk.
What does the end of fixed terms mean in a student city?
Cambridge lets differently from most of the East of England. A large share of the stock around Mill Road, Romsey, Petersfield, and the CB1 streets behind the station goes to students, postdocs and staff at Addenbrooke’s and the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. Those lets have historically run on a twelve-month academic-year cycle with a fixed end date.
That fixed end date no longer exists. Since 1 May 2026, an assured tenancy runs periodically until either the tenant gives notice or you establish a ground for possession. A tenant can serve two months’ notice to quit at any point – including in July, which is the month a September-start marketing cycle can least afford a vacancy when it comes to student lets.
There is a ground built for exactly this. Ground 4A allows possession of a house in multiple occupation let to full-time students, exercisable so the property is recovered between 1 June and 30 September, provided you gave the tenants prior written notice that you might use it. Two things follow. First, if you let to students and did not include that notice in the tenancy paperwork, you cannot rely on ground 4A this cycle. Second, ground 4A applies to HMOs – a two-bedroom flat let to a couple of PhD students is not an HMO, and ground 4A will not help you there.
The practical effect for Cambridge landlords is that the January-marketing, September-start rhythm now depends on paperwork you either have or you don’t.
If Section 21 has gone, how do you get your property back?
Through Section 8, on a stated ground, with evidence, using prescribed Form 3A. The grounds come in two types. On a mandatory ground the court must award possession if the ground is proved. On a discretionary ground the court can still refuse if it considers eviction unreasonable.
The grounds Cambridge landlords ask about most often:
| Ground | What it covers | Type |
| Ground 1A | You are selling the property | Mandatory |
| Ground 1 | You or a close family member are moving in | Mandatory |
| Ground 4A | Student HMO, recovered between 1 June and 30 September | Mandatory |
| Ground 8 | Serious rent arrears | Mandatory |
| Grounds 10 and 11 | Some arrears, or persistent late payment | Discretionary |
| Ground 14 | Anti-social behaviour | Discretionary |
Two changes matter more than the rest. The mandatory arrears threshold rose from two months to three, and the notice period for arrears doubled to four weeks. A tenant who falls two months behind is therefore no longer on a mandatory route, and the whole timeline from first missed payment to a court date is materially longer than it was. Chase early, document everything, and keep a written record of every contact.
Notice periods vary by ground – broadly two weeks to four months. Several grounds are also restricted during the first twelve months of a tenancy, and using the sale or moving-in grounds brings re-letting restrictions afterwards. Check the current grounds for possession guidance on gov.uk before you serve anything. This is not a place to work from memory.
How do rent increases work now?
Once every twelve months, by Section 13 notice on prescribed Form 4A, with at least two months’ notice before the new rent takes effect. Any rent review clause in an older agreement is now void and you cannot rely on it.
Your tenant can challenge the proposed increase at the First-tier Tribunal. The tribunal decides what the property would achieve if it were newly advertised on the open market, and it cannot set the rent higher than the figure you proposed. That is a one-way risk, so your proposed figure needs to be evidenced rather than aspirational.
For context: ONS records average private rent in Cambridge at £1,804 in June 2026, up 1.8% on £1,773 a year earlier. That is well below the 3.3% recorded across the East of England over the same period — and it is the first number a tribunal-minded tenant will find. If you are proposing an increase above local trend, be ready to show comparable lets: same postcode, same property type, same condition, let recently.
The paperwork every Cambridge landlord needs to update
- Tenancy agreement template. Strip out the fixed term, any rent review clause, any rent-in-advance clause above one month, and any blanket ban on pets. All are now unenforceable.
- Written statement of terms for every new tenancy — this is now a requirement, not good practice.
- Advertising copy. One stated rent. No “offers over”, no “rent from”, no bidding.
- Application forms. Remove any question that screens out applicants with children or on benefits.
- Prescribed forms. Form 3A for Section 8 notices, Form 4A for Section 13 rent increases. Older versions are invalid.
- Pets policy. A written process for considering a request, with a stated reason where you refuse.
- Compliance folder per property: EPC, gas safety record, EICR, deposit protection certificate and prescribed information, and any licence. Phase 2 will ask for most of this, so building the folder now is not wasted work.
What we’re seeing landlords get wrong locally
Three patterns come up repeatedly in Cambridge, and none of them are about bad intent.
Old agreements still in circulation. A 2023 or 2024 template that still contains a fixed term and a rent review clause. The document does not override the law, so the clauses are simply void — but a landlord relying on them plans around a right they no longer have.
The Information Sheet served but not evidenced. Several landlords have told us they sent it and cannot now show how. If it went as a link rather than an attachment, it was not validly served at all.
Assuming the academic cycle still guarantees vacant possession. It doesn’t. Without ground 4A notice wording in the paperwork, a student HMO does not automatically come back to you in the summer.
What’s still to come
The Act is being implemented in phases. Phase 1 is what this guide covers. The government’s implementation roadmap sets out Phase 2 as beginning from late 2026, with a staged rollout of the Private Rented Sector Database: registration will be mandatory for all private landlords, will carry an annual fee to be confirmed closer to launch, and will require contact details, property information and core safety records including gas, electrical and EPC certificates. The PRS Landlord Ombudsman follows later within Phase 2, with mandatory landlord sign-up indicated for 2028.
Phase 3 — Awaab’s Law and the Decent Homes Standard extended to the private rented sector — has no confirmed date and is subject to consultation.
One important caveat: Phase 2 commencement is set by the Secretary of State through a commencement order, which has not yet been made. “From late 2026” is the roadmap’s language, not a fixed start date. Treat it as a planning assumption and check gov.uk before acting on it.
Your ten-point compliance checklist
If you do nothing else this month, do these.
- Read your own tenancy agreement. Identify every clause that no longer holds.
- Confirm you can evidence Information Sheet service to every pre-1 May tenant.
- Replace your tenancy template with one drafted to the current Act.
- Check your marketing copy states a single rent figure.
- Diarise each tenancy’s rent increase anniversary — you get one a year and no more.
- Download current Form 3A and Form 4A and delete any older versions you hold.
- If you let to students, confirm ground 4A notice wording is in the paperwork.
- Build a compliance folder per property: EPC, gas, EICR, deposit, licence.
- Write down your pets process, including how you would refuse and why.
- Set a diary reminder for the Phase 2 commencement order.
| Not sure whether your tenancy paperwork still stands up?
We’ll read your current agreement against the Renters’ Rights Act and tell you what needs changing — free, and with no obligation to move your property to us. |
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Has Section 21 been abolished?
Yes. Section 21 “no-fault” eviction was abolished in England on 1 May 2026 under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. Landlords can no longer serve a Section 21 notice, even where an older tenancy agreement says they can. Any possession claim now needs a Section 8 ground, prescribed Form 3A, and evidence that the ground is met.
What replaces a fixed-term tenancy agreement?
An assured periodic tenancy. Since 1 May 2026 all assured tenancies in England run periodically rather than for a fixed term, and existing assured shorthold tenancies converted automatically on that date. The tenancy continues until the tenant gives two months’ notice to quit, or the landlord establishes a ground for possession through the courts.
Can I still increase the rent under the Renters’ Rights Act?
Yes, once every twelve months. You must use a Section 13 notice on prescribed Form 4A and give at least two months’ notice before the new rent applies. Rent review clauses in older agreements are void. Your tenant can challenge the increase at the First-tier Tribunal, which cannot set the rent above the figure you proposed.
Do the new rules apply to HMOs and student lets in Cambridge?
Yes. HMOs and student lets are covered by the same tenancy rules as any other assured tenancy. There is one addition: ground 4A allows possession of an HMO let to full-time students so the property is recovered between 1 June and 30 September, but only if you gave the tenants prior written notice that you might use it.
What happens if my tenancy agreement is out of date?
The law applies regardless of what your agreement says, so an out-of-date document does not remove your obligations — but it does create risk. Clauses on fixed terms, rent reviews, rent in advance and blanket pet bans are unenforceable. Separately, failing to give existing tenants the government Information Sheet by 31 May 2026 carries a civil penalty of up to £7,000.
| Cambridge lettings have changed more in the last year than in the previous ten. If you’d rather not track every phase of the Act yourself, that’s the job we do for the landlords we manage for — across the city and the surrounding villages. |
| “The conversation I’ve had most often since May has been with landlords who assumed 1 May 2026 was a line in the sand for new tenancies only. It wasn’t. A landlord came to us with a family let, still working from a 2023 agreement with a rent review clause in it, planning to raise the rent in September on the strength of that clause. It’s void. We had to start again with a Form 4A and a two-month notice period, which pushed the increase into the new year. Nothing had gone wrong yet, but it easily could have. If you haven’t read your own tenancy agreement since last spring, that’s the job for this week — and if you’d rather someone else read it, that’s a call we’re happy to take.”
Stuart Bradley, Branch Manager, Belvoir Cambridge |
