The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) has argued that the May 2026 deadline for implementing the Renters’ Rights Act is too short.
The association said landlords and businesses should get at least six months’ notice from when the government publishes guidance documents on the Act.
Ben Beadle, NRLA chief executive, said: “The announcement of a commencement date for these important reforms is welcome. However, a deadline alone is not enough.
“We have argued consistently that landlords and property businesses need at least six months from the publication of regulations to ensure the sector is properly prepared for the biggest changes it has faced for over 40 years.
“Unless the government urgently publishes all the guidance documents and written material needed to update tenancy agreements to reflect the changes to come, the plan will prove less a roadmap and more a path to inevitable failure.
“Without this landlords, tenants, agents, councils and the courts will be left without the information required to adapt, creating utter confusion at the very moment clarity is most needed.
“Ministers also need to explain how the county court will be ready to process legitimate possession cases far more swiftly than at present. As the cross-party Justice Committee has rightly warned, the court is simply dysfunctional.
“Vague assurances about digitisation, without an idea of what that means in practice, are simply not good enough.”