Nearly four in ten tenants say they do not understand what the Renters’ Rights Act means in practice, despite most being aware that the new regime takes effect this week. Rightmove said 37 percent of renters do not understand the changes, a gap that landlords and agents may have to deal with from day one of the new rules.
Awareness is high but understanding is not
Rightmove said 73 percent of renters are aware of the Act, but awareness is not the same as confidence. For landlords, that matters because confused tenants are more likely to challenge routine processes, hold back from reporting issues until they become bigger problems, or rely on incomplete advice picked up elsewhere.
Younger renters look the least sure-footed. Rightmove said 39 percent of 18 to 34-year-olds describe renting as frustrating, while 31 percent find it stressful. Almost half said they had chosen not to report issues in a rental home because it felt like too much hassle. That points to a practical problem for landlords: silence does not always mean a tenancy is running smoothly.
This follows Landlord Knowledge’s Shared owners who sublet lose Section 21 under RRA, which covered one of the legal consequences of the Act for shared owners who sublet. Together, the two pieces suggest the rules may be set, but tenant understanding is still patchy.
What landlords should expect after 1 May
Rightmove said the market itself has become more balanced in 2026, with supply and demand conditions improving from the extremes of recent years. Even so, a calmer market does not remove compliance pressure. If anything, it raises the odds that tenants will ask more questions about notice periods, rent rises and repair expectations as the new rules bed in.
Landlords already trying to prepare can look to earlier coverage such as Rent increase rules tightened before Renters’ Rights Act switch. The immediate issue is not simply legal compliance. It is communication. A landlord who follows the rules but explains them badly may still face avoidable disputes, delayed access for repairs or friction over rent reviews.
Rightmove has published guidance for renters on the new regime. For landlords, the main lesson is simple: many tenants know something is changing, but a large minority do not yet know what those changes mean for their own tenancy. That uncertainty is likely to land first in landlords’ inboxes.
Landlords can review the underlying source material in the original source.
What this means for landlords
- If you’re self-managing: expect more tenant questions on notices, rent rises and reporting repairs once the Act starts.
- Watch for: misunderstandings becoming complaints when tenants rely on partial or inaccurate advice.
- Bottom line: good communication may matter almost as much as legal compliance in the first weeks of the new regime.
Editor’s view
The legal change is clear enough on paper. The messier part is what happens when tenants half-understand it. Landlords who answer quickly and keep a paper trail should be in a much stronger position than those who assume the rules speak for themselves.
Author: Editorial Team – UK landlord & buy-to-let news, policy, and finance
Published: 28 April 2026
Sources: Rightmove
Related reading: Ombudsman says small landlords need help under RRA
