Renters' Rights Act and Lambeth Landlord Licensing: What Changed in 2026

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 reshaped private renting in England. Phase 1 implementation took effect on 1 May 2026, and for Lambeth landlords who already had three overlapping licensing schemes to manage, the changes landed on top of an already complex compliance picture. Here is what specifically changed and what it means for licensed and unlicensed properties in the borough.

Higher Civil Penalties

The maximum civil penalty for certain housing offences under Section 249A of the Housing Act 2004 increased from £30,000 to £40,000 per offence for offences committed on or after 1 May 2026. These include operating an unlicensed property, breaching licence conditions, and breaching HMO management regulations.

Lambeth Council was already among the most active enforcement boroughs in London — over £1.1 million in penalties across 450 enforcement actions in a single 12-month period. The higher cap gives the council more headroom on serious cases, particularly for landlords with multiple unlicensed properties.

The penalty for a single unlicensed selective licence property in Lambeth can now exceed the cost of the licence itself by a factor of almost 40. The £1,025 licence fee looks very different next to a £40,000 penalty.

Longer Rent Repayment Orders

Rent repayment orders — where a tenant or the local authority applies to the First-tier Tribunal to reclaim rent paid during a period of unlicensed operation — now cover up to 24 months of rent, doubled from the previous 12-month maximum. This applies to offences committed on or after 1 May 2026.

For a Lambeth property renting at £1,500 a month, that is a potential exposure of £36,000 in reclaimed rent on top of any civil penalty. The two can run in parallel: the council pursues the penalty while the tenant pursues the rent repayment order.

Section 21 Abolished

Section 21 no-fault eviction notices are no longer available for assured shorthold tenancies. New tenancies are periodic assured tenancies from the start. Existing ASTs convert to periodic tenancies. Landlords regain possession exclusively through Section 8 grounds — fault-based grounds like rent arrears or antisocial behaviour, and restructured no-fault grounds for selling the property or moving in.

The old restrictions in Sections 75 and 98 of the Housing Act 2004 on Section 21 notices no longer apply now that Section 21 has been abolished. An unlicensed landlord can still face a civil penalty and a rent repayment order application covering up to 24 months of rent for an offence committed on or after 1 May 2026.

The PRS Database

The Renters' Rights Act introduces a mandatory national Private Rented Sector Database. When it launches, every landlord letting a property in England must register on it. This is separate from and in addition to Lambeth's local property licensing. Holding a Lambeth selective or HMO licence does not satisfy the national database registration requirement, and registering on the PRS Database does not replace the local licence.

Superior Landlord Liability

The Act introduces direct personal liability for superior landlords — freeholders and head lessees — even where a property is managed through a rent-to-rent arrangement or an intermediate tenant. If an unlicensed property generates enforcement action, the person at the top of the chain cannot hide behind the managing tenant's failure to apply.

For Lambeth landlords, the message is straightforward: get licensed, stay licensed, and do not assume someone else in the chain is handling it. The Lambeth Landlord Licensing Guide maps the full compliance picture across all three schemes, including the updated penalty framework.

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