Private renter security - England

This page is for housing advisers. If you are a new arrival please click here for information more relevant to you.

This page applies to England only. If the tenancy or licence is outside England see the relevant page about security of tenure in Wales or security of tenure in Scotland.

Security of tenure and the Renters’ Rights Act 2025

Security of tenure before 1 May 2026

Until 30 April 2026, there were two main kinds of tenancy with security – assured shorthold tenancies and assured tenancies (as well as some older types of tenancy that also provided security).

Most tenancies were assured shorthold tenancies. Assured shorthold tenancies could be ended by the landlord serving two months’ notice which expired any time on or after the minimum allowed letting period of six months, or if the agreement was for a fixed term, ending on or after the fixed term. If the landlord applied to court after the notice had expired the court was obliged to grant possession provided the notice was correctly served (a ‘no fault’ or ‘section 21’ possession).

All assured and assured shorthold tenancies can be brought to end by the landlord serving notice by relying on one of the statutory grounds set out in the Housing Act 1988 (see below). This procedure could also be used by the landlord to get possession of an assured shorthold tenancy before the minimum letting period or, if longer, the fixed term had expired. This process is called ‘section 8’ possession and still applies to all new and existing tenancies.

Security of tenure from 1 May 2026

From 1 May 2026, the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 gave most private tenants in England important new rights:

• Private tenancies created on or after that date are monthly periodic assured tenancies, or, with the same period over which the rent is due if it is less than one month.
• All existing assured shorthold tenancies, whether periodic or fixed-term, became periodic assured tenancies, on the same basis.

The exceptions are the tenancies and licences listed below that have no security of tenure, such as certain arrangements involving resident landlords or agricultural lettings.

Assured shorthold tenancies created before 1 May 2026

The former section 21 procedure that applied to assured shorthold tenancies, under which a landlord could seek possession after giving two months’ notice, can no longer be used for shorthold tenancies that began before 1 May 2026—even if it was for a fixed term that was due to end on or after 1 May 2026. The only exception where the section 21 procedure can still be used is where:

• the original tenancy began before 1 November 2025
• a valid two-month notice was served before 1 May 2026, and
• the landlord began court possession proceedings before 1 July 2026.

Where this applies the average waiting time is up to 16 weeks to get a possession hearing and, on average, up to another 14 weeks (including any grace period granted by the court) to obtain a warrant for an eviction.

All other assured tenancies starting before or after 1 May 2026

Except where none of the adult occupiers have a right to rent, from 1 May 2026 the landlord can only obtain possession of an assured tenancy if:

• they have served a notice seeking possession that identifies the statutory ground for possession relied on
• the required notice period for that ground has expired
• they have applied to the court for possession
• the court is satisfied that the ground is established, and
• if a discretionary ground is relied on, the court is also satisfied that granting possession is reasonable.

Further, if the tenant paid a deposit and the landlord did not protect it in one of the three government-approved schemes, the court cannot make a possession order unless:

• the ground relied on is one of the two an anti-social behaviour grounds (ground 7A or ground 14)
• the deposit has been repaid in full, or any deductions have been agreed with the tenant, or
• the court has ordered repayment of the deposit, or the issue was settled or withdrawn before an order was made.

(Housing Act 2004, s.215 as substituted by Renters’ Rights Act 2026, s.26)

Possession on the grounds of immigration status (persons without a right to rent)

If the Home Office has sent a landlord a notice telling them about an adult occupier of a who does not have the right to rent, the landlord must take steps to get them to leave. A person does not have the ‘right to rent’ if they require leave to be in the UK but do not have it either because they are an illegal entrant or an overstayer. If a person has applied for leave but their application has not yet been decided, they can apply to the Home office for a discretionary right to rent.

If all the adult occupiers are disqualified (and there are no children) the landlord can obtain possession without a court order by serving a notice in the prescribed form. The notice has the effect of ending the tenancy as if a court order had been made.

If at least one but not all the occupiers are disqualified the landlord can ask those occupiers to leave, or if they refuse and the dwelling has been let on assured tenancy, start possession proceedings using ground 7B.

The page on advising on right to rent checks has more information about who has a right to rent and both possession procedures.

Tenancies and licences without security

There are some tenancies that do not have statutory security, so that the tenant’s rights are only those contained in the tenancy agreement. In some cases, the landlord has to obtain a possession order before the tenant is required to leave (section 3, Protection from Eviction Act 1977) which can only be suspended for a maximum of six weeks (section 89, Housing Act 1980). The landlord must end the tenancy before they can get the order (see the end of this section). The tenancy types where the landlord needs a possession order that you are most likely to encounter as an adviser are:

• Lettings to students by an educational institution.
• Where the landlord lives in the same flat or building as the tenant but does not share facilities with the tenant (for example, where the tenant occupies one part of the building and the landlord another, but not where they occupy separate self-contained flats in the same building).
• Certain tenancies with a very high or very low rent.

For further details of the last category and a complete list of non-secure tenancies that require a possession order, including the less common categories, see schedule 1, Housing Act 1988.

For any other tenancy or licence without statutory security the landlord does not need a court order to remove the occupier. But the landlord can only remove the occupier once the agreement has come to an end (see end of this section for details), and the landlord is still liable for any criminal offences, such as assault, harassment or criminal damage that they commit. The types of tenancy and licence are known as ‘excluded tenancies and licences’). The most common ones are:

• The dwelling is the landlord’s only or principal home that they have shared throughout the agreement with the occupier.
• The dwelling, or part of it, is the only or principal home of a member of the landlord’s family which they have shared with the occupier throughout the term of the agreement. But this does not apply if both parties occupy separate units in a purpose-built block of flats.
• Permission granted as a temporary expedient to an occupier who entered the property as a trespasser.
• A holiday let.
• A letting where no rent is payable.
• Accommodation provided by the Home Office as part of the asylum support scheme for destitute asylum seekers.
• A licence to occupy a room or rooms in a hostel where the hostel is provided by a council or other specified housing provider.

In all the non-secure tenancies in this section the tenancy must be ended before the landlord can take possession, regardless of whether they also need a court order. A periodic tenancy is ended by serving a minimum notice of four weeks, or the rental period if that is longer (section 5, Protection from Eviction Act 1977). A fixed-term tenancy ends once the term has run its course.

If the landlord has received a notification from the Home office that a tenant or licensee is a ‘disqualified’ person then s/he can end the tenancy.

Night-by-night accommodation

A licence to occupy a hotel room, or hostel accommodation or night shelter let on a nightly basis, is not usually a tenancy or a licence to occupy a ‘dwelling’ because the occupier does not treat the room as their home. Therefore the owner does not usually need a possession order to remove the occupier. However, it will all depend on the facts. For example, in one case the occupier had lived in the hotel for fifteen years (changing rooms three times) and had some limited cooking facilities, and the arrangement was held to be a tenancy (Uratemp Ventures v Collins (2001)).

Assured tenancies and Rent Act regulated tenancies

Assured tenancies are relatively rare in the private sector – because of the rule that the shorthold is the default agreement. Prior to 28 February 1997 the assured tenancy was the default so if the agreement started before then the occupier may be an assured tenant (see the guide Defending Possession Proceedings for advice). Assured tenants enjoy a much greater level of security because the landlord cannot use the two-month notice-only procedure. Most claims for possession brought against assured tenants require the court to consider whether it is reasonable to make an order for possession and whether to suspend the order on terms (such as repayment of rent arrears). However, if there are two months’ rent arrears at the date of service of a notice and at the date of trial, the court has no choice but to make an outright possession order under Ground 8, Schedule 2, Housing Act 1988.

If the agreement started before 15 January 1989, including where the same tenant has been offered a new agreement by the same landlord and the original agreement began before that date, then the occupier may be a Rent Act regulated tenant (for example, if the original sole tenant is granted a new joint tenancy when their new partner comes to live with them).

Rent Act regulated tenants enjoy even greater levels of security than assured tenants and also have the right to have a ‘fair rent’ set by an independent assessor (a ‘rent officer’). If it appears the agreement may be a Rent Act regulated tenancy you should seek specialist housing advice or see the guide Defending Possession Proceedings.

Both assured and Rent Act regulated tenancies are subject to the same rules about loss of security of tenure for ‘disqualified’ people as outlined above for assured shorthold tenants. The new Rent Act ground for possession is 10A, inserted by section 41 of the Immigration Act 2016.

Accommodation provided by employers

Usually, accommodation that has been provided by employers will fall within the definition of an assured shorthold tenancy and the rights of an assured shorthold tenant apply (see above).

Sometimes, accommodation provided by an employer has fewer rights. An employee who occupies property for the purpose of performing their employment duties is a service occupier or licensee. The test is whether it is essential for the employee to live on the premises, or whether they could live elsewhere and still perform their employment duties. It often applies to:

• live-in carers or housekeepers
• caretakers or parks or grounds keepers.

A service occupier loses their right to occupy accommodation when their employment ends. The landlord is still obliged to serve four weeks’ notice to quit and obtain a possession order unless the arrangement falls within the list of excluded agreements (for example, by sharing living arrangements with the employer/landlord - see above).

Agricultural tenancies

Some, but not all, agricultural workers have a special kind of assured or assured shorthold tenancy. These are known as an ‘assured agricultural tenancy’ or ‘assured shorthold agricultural tenancy’: each type has similar rights to its non-agricultural equivalent. But for agricultural tenancies the default agreement is the assured agricultural, and is only a shorthold if the landlord served notice that it would be, before the tenancy began.

The agreement is an assured agricultural (or assured shorthold agricultural) if:

• the tenant lives in a self-contained house; and
• the house is owned by the tenant’s employer, or by someone with whom they have made arrangements to let it to their employees; and
• the tenant is an agricultural worker, i.e. he or she works full-time (minimum 35 hours per week), with at least some of the time spent maintaining crops, livestock, forestry, tractors or other equipment and has been employed in agriculture for at least 91 weeks out of the preceding 104 weeks.

If the arrangement does not fall within this definition, even if the employer has arranged the accommodation, it is not an agricultural tenancy and the usual rules governing agreements (for example, assured shorthold, licence without security and so on) apply. If the agreement falls within the definition above but it began before 15 January 1989 it is a protected agricultural tenancy and the tenant has similar rights to a Rent Act regulated tenant (see above).

There is a useful summary on tenancies for agricultural workers in tied accommodation on the Shelter website.