Renters' Rights Act 2025 and Deposit Protection: What Changed for Landlords

The Core Change: ASTs Are Gone

Phase 1 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 took effect on 1 May 2026. Every existing Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) in England automatically converted into an Assured Periodic Tenancy (APT). No new ASTs can be created. Section 21 "no-fault" notices are abolished.

For deposit protection, this matters in two ways. First, the penalties for non-compliance bite harder now that Section 21 is gone. Second, landlords with existing deposits need to understand what carries over and what requires new action.

Existing Deposits Carry Over — With Conditions

If you properly protected a deposit and served the Prescribed Information during the original AST, you do not need to re-protect the deposit or re-serve the Prescribed Information when the tenancy converts to periodic. The protection carries forward automatically under the deemed compliance provisions of the Deregulation Act 2015.

This applies whether the conversion happened organically (a fixed term rolling into periodic) or through the 1 May 2026 statutory conversion under the Renters' Rights Act.

However, there is a separate obligation: landlords of converted tenancies must serve the official government Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet on all tenants by 31 May 2026. This is a different document from the Prescribed Information — it summarises the tenant's rights under the new periodic tenancy regime. Failure to serve it exposes landlords to local authority civil fines.

Section 21 Abolition Makes Compliance Non-Negotiable

Under the old system, a landlord who failed to protect a deposit could not serve a valid Section 21 notice — but could still theoretically wait until the tenant left voluntarily. The financial penalty from Section 214 was the main risk.

Now that Section 21 is abolished, all possession claims go through Section 8 grounds. And the Renters' Rights Act specifically provides that a court cannot grant a possession order under Section 8 (except for antisocial behaviour under Grounds 7A and 14) while the landlord is non-compliant with deposit duties.

This means an unprotected deposit does not just create a financial penalty — it locks you out of repossessing your own property for any of the standard grounds (rent arrears, selling the property, moving back in, redevelopment). The deposit must be fully compliant before you can even start the possession process.

Periodic Tenancies and Ongoing Compliance

Under the old AST system, many landlords treated deposit protection as a one-off task at the start of a fixed term. With open-ended periodic tenancies now the default, there are more events that trigger compliance obligations throughout the tenancy:

Rent increases under Section 13. Periodic tenancies can only have rent increased through the statutory Section 13 notice procedure. If a rent increase raises the annual rent, the deposit cap under the Tenant Fees Act may increase proportionally. If you request a deposit top-up, the additional amount triggers a new 30-day clock for protection and Prescribed Information service.

Tenant changes. A joint tenant moving out and being replaced triggers updated Prescribed Information within 30 days. Under periodic tenancies, tenant changes may happen more frequently than under fixed terms.

Agent offboarding. If you have been using a letting agent and switch to self-management during a periodic tenancy, you need to verify that all deposit compliance is in order — protection, Prescribed Information and proof of service — because the liability is yours.

Civil Penalties Have Increased

For certain offences under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, local authorities may impose a penalty of up to £40,000; other breaches have lower limits. These penalties are separate from Section 214 claims, whose one-to-three-times-deposit range remains unchanged. Local authorities have expanded enforcement powers, and the forthcoming PRS Landlord Database (rolling out from December 2026) will create additional visibility into landlord compliance records.

What Landlords Should Do Now

If you have a currently tenanted property in England:

1. Verify that the deposit is protected with an approved scheme — log into DPS, TDS or mydeposits and confirm the protection certificate is active
2. Verify that you served the complete Prescribed Information (not just the certificate) and can locate proof of service
3. Confirm that you served the Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet by 31 May 2026
4. Review whether any tenant changes, rent increases or agent handovers since the original protection require updated Prescribed Information

For new tenancies from 1 May 2026 onward, the 30-day clock starts exactly as before — from the date the deposit funds arrive. The scheme choice, custodial/insured decision, and Prescribed Information requirements are unchanged.

Our Tenancy Deposit Protection guide is dated to the post-RRA 2025 rules and covers both new tenancies and existing conversions — including the interaction between deposit compliance and the Section 8 possession grounds you now depend on.

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