Farm workers who live in a property which is owned by their employer (or owned by a landlord who has an arrangement with their employer) enjoy statutory protection. Until now, a way for the farmer/landlord to avoid statutory protection attaching to new arrangements (post 1989) has been to serve a statutory notice which converts a tenancy which would otherwise be protected as an Assured Agricultural Occupancy, into an Assured Shorthold Tenancy which could be terminated on 2 months’ notice by serving a s21 notice, what the press call a “no fault eviction”.
Successive governments have promised to abolish “no fault eviction” and the current Labour government has finally done it. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (RRA 2025) received royal assent on 27 October 2025. The provisions of the Act are not yet in force but there are important changes to get to grips with before they become the law.
No more Assured Shorthold Tenancies
Not only does this Act prevent any future tenancy being an Assured Shorthold Tenancy it is retrospective in its effect, which means that all the Assured Shorthold Tenancies which have been created up to now, will cease to exist and will be converted by the Act into something else. In the case of cottages occupied by agricultural workers under AST’s they will be converted into Assured Agricultural Occupancies where the cottage belongs to their employer and into Assured Tenancies if the property belongs to someone else. In either case the landlord can no longer use the s21 no fault ground to terminate the tenancy.
Fixed terms have also been abolished, and all tenancies will now be periodic, continuing from month to month until they are ended on one of the statutory grounds for termination set out in the Act.
New grounds for possession but a court hearing is always needed
The statutory grounds for possession have been amended and now include;
- sale of the property;
- landlord or close family member moving in;
- redevelopment of the property;
- anti-social behaviour;
- rent arrears (mandatory threshold raised from two to three months arrears).
Crucially for farmer landlords there is a new mandatory ground for possession.
Ground 5A
The landlord seeking possession requires the dwelling-house for the purpose of housing a qualifying agricultural worker.
To succeed on this ground the landlord must issue a statutory notice and crucially attend a court hearing to obtain a possession order. The court system is overextended and underfunded and there can be very long waits for a possession hearing.
Register of residential landlords
In addition, the Act will make it compulsory for all landlords of residential property (including farmers renting to farm workers) to register themselves and their properties on a new PRS landlord database. Registration will be a pre-requisite to use most of the statutory possession grounds. There will be a fee payable for registration, there is no information yet as to how much the fee will be.
Restrictions on rent increases
The Act introduces new restrictions on rent increases for tenants. To increase the rent to a market rent the landlord must serve a statutory (s13) notice at least two months before the rent increase will take effect. The tenant has the right to challenge any increase by making an application to the First Tier Tribunal, the Tribunal will assess whether the proposed rent is a market rent. There is no costs penalty for the tenant if they are unsuccessful in challenging the proposed rent. Rent may not be increased more than once a year.
Things to do now
There is a lot for landlords to think about before the provisions of the Act come into force. But taking the following steps would help.
- If there is an opportunity to change existing arrangements then consider serving section 21 notices/making rent increases now as for existing tenancies, there is still a window of time as notices served before the RRA 2025 comes into force will be valid.
- Prepare to register the details of the landlord and each of the properties on the PRS database, once this becomes available.
- Review future plans for the properties to consider the longer notices required to obtain possession and potential court delays.
Giving you the full picture
If you need help understanding the new Renters Rights Act 2026 to ensure you are prepared before it comes into effect, our agricultural property experts can assist you.
