Drafting a new Renters’ Rights Act Tenancy Agreement – Series Overview

The introduction of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 marks a significant shift in landlord and tenant law, prompting a comprehensive revision of tenancy agreements. The new Landlord Law Renters’ Rights Act compliant tenancy agreement has been developed to align with these changes, ensuring landlords and agents are equipped to meet the updated legal requirements.

Significance of the Renters’ Rights Act

The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 represents the most substantial reform in landlord and tenant legislation for many years. Key changes include the abolition of fixed-term tenancies and the removal of section 21 eviction notices. Additionally, the Act introduces new obligations for written terms and information within tenancy agreements.

These reforms necessitate careful drafting of tenancy agreements to ensure they are legally compliant, clear, fair, and robust enough to withstand legal challenges. Failure to adapt agreements accordingly could expose landlords to penalties and complicate enforcement efforts.

Development of the New Tenancy Agreement

In preparation for Stage 1 of the Renters’ Rights Act, which came into effect on 1 May 2026, the Landlord Law team undertook a detailed and time-intensive process to create a compliant tenancy agreement. This process spanned approximately 12 days of active development, excluding the initial planning phase.

The new agreement is now live and accessible to Landlord Law members, including a version tailored for ‘room in a shared house’ tenancies. The development involved multiple stages, from initial conceptualisation to drafting, refining, testing, and final amendments.

Overview of the Drafting Series

The creation of the new tenancy agreement was documented in a series of posts, each covering distinct aspects of the process:

• Part 1 – Initial thinking and structure: This stage addressed early decisions such as incorporating a ‘Key Information’ section and explained how the Landlord Law document system operates.
• Part 2 – Drafting the agreement: Focused on removing clauses no longer permitted under the new law, including fixed terms and section 21 notices, and addressed issues like bills, deposits, and Equality Act compliance. The role of ChatGPT in assisting the drafting process was also discussed.
• Part 3 – Refining and building the system: Covered the refinement of wording, consideration of guarantees based on member feedback, and the development of the Gravity Forms system used to generate the final document.
• Part 4 – Final amendments and testing: Detailed the final revisions, enhancements to the Key Information section, and provided the first complete view of the agreement. Further commentary on the use of ChatGPT and the challenges of information overload was included.
• Part 5 – The agreement goes live: Explained the finishing touches, introduced new features, and confirmed availability for members.

Collaboration with Technology

The drafting process notably involved collaboration with ChatGPT, described by the author as an “immensely knowledgeable but intensely scatty and somewhat unreliable writing partner.” This partnership highlights the evolving role of artificial intelligence in legal document preparation, offering both assistance and challenges.

What this means for landlords

Landlords must now use tenancy agreements that comply with the Renters’ Rights Act to avoid legal pitfalls. The new agreement provided by Landlord Law offers a practical and reassuring tool designed to meet these requirements. Its careful drafting aims to protect landlords from potential penalties and facilitate smoother enforcement of tenancy terms under the new legal framework.

Given the scale of legislative change, landlords should familiarise themselves with the new agreement’s structure and provisions. This will help ensure their tenancies remain compliant and that they are prepared for the evolving regulatory environment.

Next steps

Following the launch of the general tenancy agreement, work is planned on a version tailored specifically for student landlords. This will address the unique circumstances of student tenancies within the new legal context, although it will require additional time and effort to complete.

Source: Based on reporting from The Landlord Law Blog

TLA Training Academy

The Landlord Association has launched its new Training Academy for UK landlords, providing structured guidance, compliance education, and practical knowledge to support landlords at every stage. Members can now complete the programme and become TLA Certified Landlords at no additional cost as part of their membership.

Landlords can explore the Academy here: https://landlordassociation.org.uk/tla-academy/

Those looking to join and access the full training and certification can register here: https://landlordassociation.org.uk/landlord-association-membership-uk/

TLA update

The Landlord Association is currently onboarding new service providers into its Trusted Partner Hub, a new initiative designed to support landlords, tenants, letting agents, and property managers with vetted, high-quality services. As one of the fastest growing landlord associations in the UK, TLA offers partners direct access to an engaged and active member base at the point of need. Service providers across legal, maintenance, insurance, finance, mortgages, tenant screening, and property services can register their interest here: https://landlordassociation.org.uk/become-a-tla-service-partner/