On 1 May 2026, every Assured Shorthold Tenancy in England automatically became an Assured Periodic Tenancy. Here is exactly what changed, what stayed the same, what you needed to do by 31 May, and what to do now if you've missed anything.
At midnight on 30 April 2026, every Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) in England automatically became an Assured Periodic Tenancy (APT). This happened by operation of law — no action was required from the landlord or tenant for the conversion itself to take effect.
The converted tenancy is treated as a continuation of the same tenancy — not a new tenancy. This means:
Exception — tenancies with a valid Section 21 notice: If you had served a valid Section 21 notice before 1 May 2026, the transitional provisions allowed you to continue those possession proceedings. Section 21 notices served before 1 May 2026 remain valid for their usual lifespan — but you must have applied to court by 31 July 2026. After that window, the notice is invalid and you must start again using Section 8.
The following aspects of the tenancy carried over unchanged from the AST to the APT:
| What changed | Old position (AST) | New position (APT from 1 May 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed term | Fixed term continued to run | Fixed term ended — tenancy became periodic immediately |
| Section 21 | Available once fixed term ended | Permanently abolished — cannot be used |
| Possession | Section 21 or Section 8 | Section 8 grounds only |
| Rent increases | Contractual review clause or Section 13 | Section 13 only — contractual rent review clauses no longer effective |
| Rent increase frequency | As per contract | Maximum once per 12 months |
| Notice for rent increase | As per contract or Section 13 | Form 4A — minimum 2 months' notice |
| Pet requests | No specific obligation | Must respond within 28 days, refusal must be reasonable |
The conversion on 1 May 2026 triggered two specific obligations for landlords of existing tenancies, both with a 31 May 2026 deadline:
Every landlord in England with an existing written tenancy was required to serve the official Renters' Rights Act 2025 Information Sheet on each named tenant by 31 May 2026. The Information Sheet is a government PDF available from GOV.UK. It must be served as an attachment, not a link. Each named tenant must receive their own copy.
Penalty for non-compliance: up to £7,000 per tenancy.
Landlords of HMOs let exclusively to full-time students were required to serve a written Ground 4A confirmation notice on each tenant by 31 May 2026. Without this notice, Ground 4A cannot be used to recover possession for the current tenancy.
See our Ground 4A guide and Information Sheet guide for full details on both obligations.
Both deadlines have now passed (31 May 2026). If you missed either obligation, act immediately. The penalty risk does not go away after the deadline — local authorities can still investigate and penalise non-compliant landlords.
Even though the deposit protection and compliance documents carry over, the following new rules now apply to every converted tenancy:
Any contractual rent review clause in your old AST is no longer effective. Rent can only be increased using the statutory Section 13 procedure: Form 4A notice, minimum 2 months' notice, maximum once per 12 months. The tenant can refer any proposed increase to the First-tier Tribunal if they believe it exceeds the market rent.
You can no longer serve a Section 21 notice. To recover possession you must use one of the Section 8 grounds. See our Section 8 guide for all 17 grounds and their requirements.
Tenants now have the right to request permission to keep a pet. You must respond within 28 days. Refusal must be on reasonable grounds. Unreasonably refusing a pet request exposes you to a civil penalty.
Tenants must give a minimum of 2 months' notice to end their tenancy. The notice period in the old AST may have been shorter — the new 2-month minimum overrides any contractual provision that gives less.
For all converted tenancies, possession can only be recovered via Section 8. The most commonly used grounds are:
DocPilot's Landlord Complete Bundle includes the APT agreement for new tenancies, Form 4A rent increase notice, Section 8 pack covering all 17 grounds, deposit protection letter, compliance checklist, and all 14 landlord templates — all updated for the Renters' Rights Act 2025.
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