The Renters' Rights Act for Letting Agents: Your Obligations and Opportunities

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 doesn't just affect landlords - it places significant obligations on letting agents who manage properties on behalf of clients. If your agency manages properties and something goes wrong because of non-compliance, both you and your landlord client may be liable. Here's what you need to know.

Who bears responsibility for compliance?

This is the question most letting agents are asking. The short answer is: it depends on the nature of your management agreement.

Under a full management agreement, the agency takes on day-to-day compliance responsibilities on behalf of the landlord - safety certificates, maintenance response, document service. In practice, this means the agency can face direct enforcement action if it fails to meet obligations like Awaab's Law timescales or gas safety renewal deadlines.

Under a let-only or tenant-find agreement, the responsibility for ongoing compliance sits with the landlord. But if your agency prepared the tenancy documentation and it's non-compliant, you carry professional liability risk.

Regardless of your management model, every letting agent should understand the new regime thoroughly - because your landlord clients are relying on you to guide them.

Key obligations for letting agents under the RRA 2025

1. All new tenancies must be periodic from 1 May 2026

You can no longer offer fixed-term ASTs to incoming tenants. Every new tenancy you set up must be on the periodic basis from day one. Any tenancy agreement template your agency uses must be updated to comply with the RRA - no fixed end dates, no Section 21 references, updated Section 8 possession grounds, Awaab's Law obligations, and pet rights provisions.

If you're still using a pre-2026 AST template, you need to replace it now. PropReady's agency plan gives you compliant templates for your entire portfolio at once.

2. Awaab's Law - you may be the first point of contact

In a full management scenario, your agency is typically the first point of contact for maintenance reports. That means you start the Awaab's Law clock - the 5-day investigation timer runs from when the report reaches you, not when you forward it to the landlord.

Agencies need robust maintenance logging processes: every report timestamped, category assessed, landlord notified immediately, investigation arranged within 5 working days. The audit trail doesn't need to show that you fixed the hazard - it needs to show that you acted within the statutory timescale.

3. The tenant information leaflet - your responsibility to serve

For full management clients, serving the mandatory information leaflet to existing tenants by 31 May 2026 was your responsibility. If you managed properties and didn't serve this, both you and your landlord clients may face consequences. If you're reading this after the deadline, serve the leaflet now - the sooner the better.

4. Rent increases must go through Section 13

If your agency handles rent reviews, every increase must now use the formal Section 13 notice process - prescribed form, 2 months' minimum notice, maximum once per year. Annual rent review clauses in tenancy agreements you've drafted are no longer enforceable. Update your rent review procedures and calendar reminders accordingly.

5. Pet requests - 28-day response required

If you receive a pet request from a tenant, your landlord client has 28 days to respond. Silence is deemed acceptance. Build a workflow that flags pet requests to landlord clients immediately and tracks the 28-day deadline.

The opportunity: compliance as a service differentiator

Here's the other side of this picture. The Renters' Rights Act is creating genuine anxiety among independent landlords. Many are considering selling. Those who stay need professional guidance they can trust. Agencies that get on top of RRA compliance first - and can demonstrate it - will win business from landlords who previously self-managed.

What forward-thinking agencies are doing

• Compliance audit service: Offering existing and prospective landlord clients a paid compliance audit - check all certificates, review tenancy documentation, assess maintenance records
• White-label reporting: Monthly branded compliance reports to landlord clients showing property-by-property compliance status, open maintenance issues, documents generated
• Bulk document generation: Converting all managed properties to compliant periodic tenancies at once - demonstrating scale and professionalism
• Maintenance portal for tenants: Giving tenants a branded portal link (rather than your staff's personal WhatsApp) for all maintenance reports - timestamped, categorised, traceable

What the numbers look like

Consider a mid-sized agency managing 200 properties across 100 landlord clients. Under the new regime:

• 200 periodic tenancy agreements need updating
• 200 information leaflets needed to be served by 31 May 2026
• All maintenance reports must be triaged for Awaab's Law compliance
• 100 landlord clients need guidance on what the Act means for them

Without a systematic approach, this is thousands of hours of admin. PropReady's agency dashboard handles all of it - bulk document generation, portfolio-wide compliance scanning, Awaab's Law timers, white-label monthly reports.

Liability: what happens if your agency gets it wrong

The enforcement regime under the RRA is significantly more robust than previous legislation:

• Local councils can issue Civil Penalty Notices directly to agents (not just landlords) for certain offences
• Fines of up to £40,000 per violation apply at the higher end
• Tenants can pursue Rent Repayment Orders for up to 12 months' rent
• The PRS Ombudsman (launching late 2026) can award compensation without court proceedings

Professional indemnity insurance will cover some of this exposure - but you should check your policy carefully in the context of the new Act. An undisclosed compliance failure could affect a claim.

Checklist for letting agents

• ☐ Update all tenancy agreement templates to the new periodic format
• ☐ Serve information leaflets to all managed properties' tenants (if not done)
• ☐ Review gas safety certificate and EICR renewal calendars for all managed properties
• ☐ Set up a formal, timestamped maintenance reporting process
• ☐ Update rent review procedures to use Section 13 only
• ☐ Create a pet request tracking workflow
• ☐ Brief landlord clients on the changes and their obligations
• ☐ Consider offering a compliance audit service as a new revenue line