Renters’ Rights Act: The five big changes coming into force in May

1. The Act abolishes Section 21 'no-fault' evictions, requiring landlords to provide legitimate reasons for eviction and give four months' notice.
2. There will be no more fixed-term contracts, moving to a system of open-ended or rolling tenancies. So, when you sign a contract, you won’t have an end date to that contract. This applies to all existing and new contracts.
3. Rental bidding will be prohibited.
4. Tenants will gain strengthened rights to request pets, and it will become illegal for landlords to discriminate against those on benefits or with children.
5. New rules limit rent-in-advance requests to a maximum of one month and restrict rent increases to once per year, with tenants able to challenge excessive increases.