UK Offence Report

Transitional provision relating to regulation 3(h), (j) and (k): offences committed before 1st May 2026

regulation 11 of The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 2 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

11 The amendments to Chapter 4 of Part 2 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 (rent repayment orders) made by sections 98, 103 and 104 of the 2025 Act have no effect— a in relation to an offence committed before 1st May 2026; or b where a person commits an offence mentioned in row 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 of the table in section 40(3) of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 (introduction and key definitions) for a continuous period starting before 1st May 2026 and ending on or after that date, in relation to the period falling before 1st May 2026.

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds
a person
Conduct
breaching the provision
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

What would breach regulation 11?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

  1. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 2 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
16 April 2026
In force from
Not determined
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations are the second commencement regulations made under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (c. 26) (“the 2025 Act”). As well as bringing into force provisions of the 2025 Act, they make transitional and saving provisions in connection with the commencement of those provisions. Regulation 2 brings into force Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the 2025 Act, except section 25(3), on 1st May 2026, for the purposes of tenancies which are not social housing assured tenancies (“private assured tenancies”) only. Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the 2025 Act makes various changes to the Housing Act 1988 (c. 50) (“the 1988 Act”), including the abolition of fixed term and shorthold assured tenancies, so that all tenancies under that Act will now be assured periodic tenancies, and the abolition of “section 21 evictions” (also known as “no fault evictions”). Regulation 3 brings into force, on 1st May 2026, various other provisions of the 2025 Act. This includes section 25(3), which omits section 193C(3) to (10) of the Housing Act 1996 (c. 52) which is the lesser duty placed on local housing authorities where a homeless applicant has failed to cooperate where the offer of an assured shorthold tenancy is sufficient to end the duty, Chapter 3 of Part 1, which prevents discrimination against prospective tenants with children or those who receive benefits, Chapter 6 of Part 1, which requires an asking rent to be published for lettings and prohibits landlords and letting agents from inviting, encouraging or accepting offers in excess of that amount, and sections 98 and 103 to 106, which strengthen the rent repayment order regime (RRO) under Chapter 4 of Part 2 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 (“the 2016 Act”) and expand its scope, and that of certain existing RRO offences, to include superior landlords. Regulation 4 makes transitional provision in connection with the coming into force of section 2 of the 2025 Act, which repeals Chapter 2 of Part 1 of the 1988 Act, including section 22 of that Act. Paragraphs (1) and (2) provide that on and after 1st May 2026, a referral to the tribunal for a rent determination during the first six months of an existing tenancy must be made under section 14(A1) of the 1988 Act. Section 16 (general savings) of the Interpretation Act 1978 (c. 30) would otherwise allow a tenant to make a new application under repealed section 22 after 1st May 2026. Paragraph (3) provides that a tenant may not make a further application for a determination of the rent payable under the tenancy under section 14(A1) on or after 1st May 2026 where an application has previously been made under section 22 of the 1988 Act which was not subsequently withdrawn. Regulation 5 makes saving provision in connection with the coming into force of paragraph 3 of Schedule 1 to the 2025 Act in relation to a “legacy assured tenancy”. This is defined as an assured tenancy entered into before the 1st May 2026 which was not an assured shorthold tenancy within the meaning of Part 1 of the 1988 Act as it had effect immediately before 1st May 2026. For legacy assured tenancies, the amendment made by paragraph 3 of Schedule 1 to the 2025 Act to Schedule 2 of the 1988 Act will not apply. Paragraph 3 of Schedule 1 creates a new ground for possession (Ground 1A) relating to the sale of the dwelling-house. As a result of this saving provision, it will not be possible for landlords of legacy assured tenancies to rely on Ground 1A to obtain a possession order under section 7 of the 1988 Act in relation to that tenancy. Regulation 6 makes transitional provision in connection with the coming into force of paragraph 10 of Schedule 1 to the 2025 Act, which creates a new ground for possession of student accommodation for occupation by students, Ground 4A. It temporarily reduces the notice period for Ground 4A from 4 to 2 months for notices served between 1st May 2026 and 30th July 2026 (inclusive) in relation to existing tenancies. Its purpose is to facilitate the usual letting cycle for the 2026/27 academic year. Regulation 7 makes transitional provision in connection with the coming into force of section 6 of the 2025 Act, which abolishes rent review clauses in private assured tenancies. Where a landlord has increased the rent by contractual rent review clause before 1st May 2026, a new rent proposed in a notice served under section 13(2) of the 1988 Act on or after that date may not take effect until at least 52 weeks after the previous rent increase by rent review clause. This provision prevents landlords from using the statutory procedure to increase the rent more than once annually. Regulation 8 makes transitional provision in connection with the coming into force of sections 6 and 7 of the 2025 Act. This regulation saves pre-commencement sections 13 and 14 of the 1988 Act in circumstances where a landlord has served a notice under section 13(2) before 1st May 2026, proposing a new rent to take effect after that date. Sections 13 and 14 will continue to apply as unamended by the 2025 Act where either a tenant has made a referral under section 13(4)(a) before 1st May 2026 and the tribunal has not made a rent determination by that date or the tenant does not make a referral until on or after 1st May 2026. Regulation 9 makes transitional provision in connection with the coming into force of section 13 of the 2025 Act. It will apply to shared owners who have sublet the property on a tenancy that began before 1st May 2026. Section 16F(3) to (5) of the 1988 Act (inserted by section 13 of the 2025 Act) provides that landlords who are shared owners are exempt from the 12-month restriction on re-letting the property after using new possession Ground 1A (selling the property). One of the criteria for this exemption is that the landlord must have informed the tenant in writing before the tenancy began that the exemption may apply. This regulation will allow landlords of existing tenancies to meet this criterion, by providing a month-long window after commencement in which they can inform the tenant in writing that the exemption may apply. Regulation 10 makes savings provision in connection with the coming into force of section 25(4) of the 2025 Act. It provides that section 195A of the Housing Act 1996 continues to apply to any person who accepts an offer of an assured shorthold tenancy made in accordance with section 193(7AA) of that Act before 1st May 2026, so that where a person becomes homeless again within 2 years of accepting that offer, the local authority duty under section 193(2) of that Act will apply if the person is not intentionally homeless regardless of whether the person has a priority need. Regulation 11 makes transitional provision in connection with the coming into force of sections 98, 103 and 104 of the 2025 Act. It ensures that the amendments made by the 2025 Act to Chapter 4 of Part 2 of the 2016 Act (rent repayment orders) only apply to offences committed by a tenant’s landlord or superior landlord on or after 1st May 2026. An impact assessment has not been prepared for this instrument as a full assessment was produced in relation to the 2025 Act. Copies can be obtained at https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/59-01/0127/amend/Renters_Rights_Bill-IA.pdf or from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government at 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same instrument

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.92.

Basis
the provision says a person “commits an offence”
Confidence
0.92 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

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