Renters' Rights Act eve (30 April 2026): the last-day tenant audit checklist before the law changes at midnight

The Renters' Rights Act takes effect at one minute past midnight on 1 May 2026. From that point, Section 21 "no fault" eviction is gone, all assured shorthold tenancies convert to assured periodic, and a wave of new tenant rights kick in. But today — Thursday 30 April 2026 — the old rules still apply.

That matters more than it sounds. A landlord can still serve a valid Section 21 today, right up until 4:30 PM (the time most courts and tribunals are reachable). After that — for all practical purposes — Section 21 is dead. Any "Section 21" served on or after 1 May is procedurally invalid: a dead notice, no force in law.

If you're a tenant on Thursday 30 April 2026, this is a 30-minute audit you should do before bed. It locks in your evidence, captures the state of your home and tenancy at the cliff edge, and gives you proof of what the landlord was — or wasn't — doing right up to the moment the law changed.

Need help if a Section 21 (served before midnight) or a Section 13 rent increase is already on your kitchen counter? RentSOS can analyse the notice, check it against the rules in force when it was served, and tell you whether you have grounds to challenge — free to check, £14.99 only if grounds are found.

At a glance: the 30-minute eve-of-RRA audit

Step	Time	What you're capturing
1. Photograph anything that arrived in the post today	5 min	Section 21, Section 13, rent demand, repair notices
2. Walk through your home with your phone	8 min	Time-stamped condition photos before midnight
3. Pull together the paperwork pack	10 min	Tenancy agreement, deposit cert, gas safety, EPC
4. Lock down what's still valid vs what dies tonight	5 min	Notes on what changes at 00:01
5. Save everything to dated cloud folder	2 min	Backup + timestamp metadata

Why "30 April" matters legally

England's eviction regime splits at midnight. The old framework — Housing Act 1988 with Section 21 as the headline tool — applies up to and including all of today. The new framework — the Renters' Rights Act 2025 (commencement order 1 May 2026) — kicks in tomorrow.

Two rules to keep straight:

1. Anything served before midnight under the old regime is judged under the old regime. A Section 21 served at 3 PM today is valid (assuming the landlord followed the rules) and remains enforceable for the next six months. Court bailiffs can still execute it.
2. Anything served on or after 00:01 1 May 2026 is judged under the new regime. A "Section 21" served tomorrow is procedurally invalid — Section 21 has been abolished. Any rent increase notice served tomorrow must use Form 4A, not Form 4.

So today is the last day you might receive a valid Section 21 — and the last day a landlord can lawfully serve one. If something has come through your letterbox in the last 24 hours, photograph it, log the date and time of receipt, and save the envelope. The serving date will determine which legal regime applies for the next six months.

Step 1 — photograph anything that arrived in the post today (5 min)

Open every piece of post you've received in the last 48 hours. For each one:

• Photograph the envelope (postmark visible if you can — that's the date stamp the landlord can't fake).
• Photograph the letter or notice in full — every page, including any reverse-side prescribed information.
• Note the date and time you found it in the letterbox.
• Save to a dated folder on your phone or cloud.

The four documents that matter most this week:

Document	Why it matters today
Section 21 notice (Form 6A)	If served before midnight tonight, it's a valid old-regime notice — you have the next two months minimum before possession can be sought. If "served" tomorrow, it's a dead notice.
Section 13 rent increase (Form 4)	Last day for landlord to use the old Form 4 with the old tribunal-can-go-higher rules. From 1 May, the new Form 4A applies and the tribunal cannot raise rent above the proposed figure.
Section 8 notice (any ground)	Section 8 continues into the new regime. But the grounds list expanded on 1 May 2026 (new Ground 1A re-let, new mandatory anti-social behaviour ground). Today's notice is judged under today's grounds.
Renewal offer or rent demand	If your fixed term ends on or after 1 May, any "renewal" the landlord proposes from tomorrow is moot — your tenancy automatically becomes assured periodic. Today is the last day they can lawfully present a "you must sign a new fixed term" demand.

If anything hits your letterbox between now and midnight, photograph it the moment you find it. The postmark is your friend — it's the only way to prove what regime applies if there's a dispute later about whether the notice was served on the 30th or the 1st.

[!warning] If you see a Section 21 today, don't panic — but do act A Section 21 served today is valid, but it's also the last one your landlord can ever serve under that route. If they've used it, they've already accepted that they're going down the old-regime path — which means they need to follow every old-regime rule perfectly. RentSOS or a free check at Citizens Advice can confirm whether the notice has procedural defects (wrong dates, wrong tenancy type, missing prescribed information, deposit not protected). Defects are common.

Step 2 — walk through your home with your phone (8 min)

This is condition evidence. From 1 May 2026, you gain new powers under the Decent Homes Standard reforms (£40,000 maximum fine for serious hazards from tomorrow, £7,000 instant penalty for unaddressed Category 1 hazards). To use those powers, you need before-and-after evidence.

Walk every room with your phone camera:

Room	What to capture
Kitchen	Working condition of cooker, fridge, sink. Damp under sink. Window seals. Boiler if visible.
Bathroom	Working shower / bath. Mould on walls, ceiling, around window. Leaks under sink, behind toilet. Ventilation working.
Living room	Damp patches. Window draughts (hold a tissue near closed window edges). Heating working.
Bedrooms	Damp on outside walls, behind curtains. Window seals.
Hallway / stairs	Working smoke alarm (push the test button while filming). Carbon monoxide alarm in any room with a flame. Loose carpets. Banister condition.
Meter cupboard	Photo of meter readings (gas + electric) with timestamp visible. Useful for the tenancy record.
External	Front door condition (security), letterbox condition, any common areas you maintain.

Keep the phone's clock visible if you can — most cameras embed timestamp metadata in the file, but a visible wall clock or phone clock in shot makes it bulletproof. If the landlord later disputes the condition of the property at 1 May 2026, your phone's photo metadata is admissible evidence.

Save the lot to a dated cloud folder named 30-april-2026-eve-of-rra. Don't email it to yourself — that creates Gmail timestamp noise. A simple Drive or iCloud folder is cleaner.

Step 3 — pull together the paperwork pack (10 min)

Everything in this list should already exist somewhere. Today is the day you put it in one place.

Document	Where to find it	If missing
Tenancy agreement	Email from landlord/agent at start; signed PDF on cloud	Email landlord today: "Please send me a signed copy of my tenancy agreement for my records."
Deposit Protection Certificate	Email at the start of tenancy; check MyDeposits, DPS, or TDS website by entering postcode	Deposit not protected = serious lever — Section 21 invalid, possible 1-3x deposit award. RentSOS can flag this.
Prescribed information (deposit)	Within 30 days of paying deposit	Missing prescribed info = Section 21 invalid until provided.
Gas Safety Record (CP12)	Annual; landlord must give you a copy within 28 days of inspection	Missing = Section 21 invalid until provided + restrospective service. Council can prosecute.
EPC (Energy Performance Certificate)	Should have been given at move-in	Property cannot legally be let with EPC F or G unless registered exemption (MEES rules). Lever for both rent challenges and Decent Homes complaints.
EICR (Electrical safety)	5-year cycle	Must be issued to tenant within 28 days of inspection. Missing = council can act.
How to Rent guide	Government booklet, landlord must give at move-in	Missing = Section 21 invalid until provided.
Any past Section 21 notices	Save every single one	If a Section 21 was served and withdrawn, that's evidence. If a new Section 21 is served today, that's the lock.
Recent rent receipts / statements	Bank screenshots of standing order to landlord	Cleanest proof of rent paid on time. Useful if a Section 8 ground 8 (rent arrears) is later argued.

If any of these are missing, today is the day to email the landlord asking for them in writing. The email itself becomes evidence. Use the template below.

Subject: Request for tenancy paperwork — pre-1 May 2026

Hi [Landlord / Agent],

For my own records ahead of the Renters' Rights Act taking effect tomorrow,
please send me copies of the following by return email:

- A signed copy of my tenancy agreement
- The Deposit Protection Certificate and prescribed information
- The latest Gas Safety Record (CP12)
- The current EPC certificate
- The most recent EICR (electrical inspection)
- A copy of the How to Rent guide (latest edition)

If any of these are not available, please confirm in writing.

Thanks,
[Your name]
[Property address]
[Date: 30 April 2026]

[!tip] The email itself is leverage Even if the landlord ignores the request, you've now created dated written evidence that you asked for these documents on 30 April 2026. If a Section 21 was served today and any of the prescribed documents are missing or were never issued, the notice is invalid until the documents are provided — and your dated email proves you asked.

Step 4 — lock down what's still valid vs what dies tonight (5 min)

Five quick notes to leave for yourself, dated today.

Item	Status at 23:59 30 April 2026	Status at 00:01 1 May 2026
Section 21 — last chance	Valid notice if served today	Section 21 abolished — any "Section 21" served from tomorrow is procedurally invalid
Section 13 (Form 4) — old form	Valid if served today	New Form 4A required — Form 4 served from tomorrow is procedurally invalid
Tribunal can go higher than proposed rent	Yes (existing law)	No — tribunal capped at the landlord's proposed figure (key new tenant protection)
12-month minimum gap between increases	Yes	Yes (carries over)
Quarterly / 6-monthly rent payments	Whatever the agreement says	Reverts to monthly from 1 May for ALL tenancies — even if the contract says quarterly
Fixed term clauses in your agreement	Active	Void from 1 May for assured periodic tenancies — there is no fixed term any more
1 month rent in advance cap	Not in force	In force — landlord cannot ask for more than 1 month's rent upfront on tenancies starting from 1 May
Pet request right (28-day landlord deadline)	Not in force	In force — you can request a pet, landlord must respond in 28 days
Decent Homes Standard penalties (£40k max, £7k instant)	Not in force	In force from 1 May (full DHS implementation phased to 2035, but the penalty regime is live now)

Save this table to your tenancy folder. Tomorrow, you'll be operating under the right-hand column.

Step 5 — save everything to a dated cloud folder (2 min)

Final step. Open Google Drive, iCloud, OneDrive, Dropbox — whichever you use — and create one folder:

30-april-2026-eve-of-rra/
├── condition-photos/        ← Step 2
├── post-and-notices/        ← Step 1
├── paperwork-pack/          ← Step 3
├── pre-rra-summary.md       ← Step 4 table + your notes
└── tenancy-overview.txt     ← name, address, deposit amount, agreement date

Don't worry about formatting. The point is to have one timestamped, dated folder containing the state of your tenancy at the moment the law changed. If anything goes legally wrong in the next six months, this folder is the foundation of your evidence pack.

Three response templates

Template A — Note to file (date-locked)

Subject: Tenancy state at 30 April 2026 — pre-RRA snapshot

Tenancy: [property address]
Landlord/agent: [name + email]
Tenancy started: [date]
Deposit: £[amount], scheme: [DPS / MyDeposits / TDS], protected on [date]

Documents on file as of 30 April 2026:
- Tenancy agreement: yes / no
- Deposit Protection Certificate: yes / no
- Prescribed information: yes / no
- Gas Safety Record (most recent): [date] / not received
- EPC: rating [A-G] / not received
- EICR (most recent): [date] / not received
- How to Rent guide: received at move-in / not received

Notices received between [start of tenancy] and 30 April 2026:
- [List any Section 21, Section 13, Section 8, rent demands, eviction warnings]

Saved to: 30-april-2026-eve-of-rra/ folder, dated [date / time].

Template B — Email landlord requesting missing paperwork

(Use the email template in Step 3 above.)

Template C — Reply to anything served today

If you receive a Section 21 or Section 13 today, reply within 48 hours acknowledging receipt and the date — that locks the regime question.

Subject: Receipt of [Section 21 / Section 13] notice — served [date]

Hi [Landlord / Agent],

I'm writing to acknowledge receipt of the [Section 21 / Section 13]
notice, which I received on [date and time]. The notice was served
on [date the notice itself states].

I understand the notice is being served under the rules in force
before 1 May 2026. I will review the notice and respond on its
specific terms in due course.

Thanks,
[Your name]
[Property address]

This email pins the serving date in writing. If there's later any dispute about whether the notice was served on 30 April or 1 May (which would change the legal regime that applies), your dated reply is the cleanest possible evidence.

Edge cases

"My fixed term ends on 15 May 2026 — does my contract still apply?" The fixed-term period ends on 15 May. The fixed-term clauses in your agreement (e.g., a clause saying you can't give notice for the first 12 months) become void from 1 May. From 1 May, your tenancy is assured periodic, you have a 2-month notice right, and there is no fixed term to be locked into.

"My landlord asked me yesterday to sign a new 12-month fixed term — should I sign today?" You can refuse. If you don't sign, your existing tenancy automatically becomes assured periodic on 1 May (or at the end of any current fixed term, whichever is later). If you do sign today, you've signed a fixed-term assured tenancy. Important caveat: even if you sign, fixed-term clauses are void from 1 May — so you can't be locked in by them. But signing today gives the landlord a paper trail they may try to use; you generally have nothing to gain by signing.

"My landlord asked for 6 months' rent in advance, payable today." Today, that's allowed (subject to Consumer Rights Act fairness). From tomorrow, the rent-in-advance cap kicks in and they cannot ask for more than 1 month upfront on a new tenancy. If the tenancy starts on 1 May 2026, paying 6 months upfront today may breach the cap retroactively — wait until 1 May, then refuse anything over 1 month.

"I haven't paid the rent due tomorrow — does that change with the RRA?" Section 8 ground 8 (rent arrears) is unchanged. Pay rent on time as normal. The RRA doesn't change rent enforcement; it changes the framework around possession and rent increases.

"My landlord just told me they're selling the property next month." From 1 May, they can use new Section 8 Ground 1A to recover possession for re-letting purposes, but with a 12-month re-let prohibition. Today's threats are noise — wait until they serve a formal Section 8 with a specific ground, then assess.

What changes for you tomorrow

Tomorrow, you wake up under the new regime. Five things that are different from this morning:

1. No more Section 21. Any "no-fault" eviction route is dead. Landlords now need a Section 8 ground with evidence.
2. 2-month minimum landlord notice. All Section 13 rent increases (now Form 4A) need at least 2 months' notice — no more shorter notice for monthly tenancies.
3. Tribunal cap. If you challenge a rent increase from tomorrow, the First-tier Tribunal cannot set the rent higher than the landlord's proposed figure. The deterrent that used to discourage challenges is gone.
4. Pet request right. You can ask in writing for a pet; the landlord has 28 days to respond and can only refuse for 4 specific reasons.
5. Decent Homes Standard penalties. Local councils can issue civil penalties up to £40,000 for serious hazards and £7,000 instantly for unaddressed Category 1 hazards.

Faqs

(See FAQs below.)

Where RentSOS fits

RentSOS analyses Section 13 rent increase notices for procedural defects under whichever regime applies on the serving date. If a Section 13 was served today (Form 4, old regime), we check it against old-regime rules. If served from tomorrow (Form 4A, new regime), we check it against new-regime rules including the new tribunal cap. The check is free; we charge £14.99 only if we find grounds to challenge.

If a Section 21 was served today, RentSOS doesn't handle Section 21 directly — but Citizens Advice and Shelter both offer a free initial assessment of whether the notice has the standard procedural defects (deposit not protected, prescribed information missing, How to Rent guide not provided, gas safety not provided). All four invalidate a Section 21 until corrected.

The work you do tonight is the foundation of any later challenge. A 30-minute audit today is worth a full evening of evidence-hunting in three months.