The Renters' Rights Act: why landlords are quietly rethinking long lets

Section 21 is gone, tenancies are periodic and the balance of leverage has shifted. Here's what it means in practice - and where short lets fit.

If you've owned a rental for more than a couple of years, the ground has moved under you. The Renters' Rights Act swept away no-fault Section 21 evictions, converted assured shorthold tenancies into periodic ones, tightened rent-increase mechanics and put more weight behind tenant challenges. Whatever your politics, the practical effect is the same: the leverage landlords used to hold has thinned considerably.

None of this makes long lets unviable. Plenty of landlords with good tenants will barely notice. But it does change the risk profile. Getting your property back now depends on proving a specified ground rather than simply serving notice, and possession routes take time you may not have if you want to sell, refurbish or move family in.

What's actually changed on the ground

• No-fault Section 21 notices are no longer available - possession requires a valid ground
• Fixed terms give way to periodic tenancies, with tenants able to leave on shorter notice
• Rent increases follow a statutory route and can be challenged at tribunal
• Stronger standards enforcement, with a property ombudsman and a national landlord database

Why some landlords are moving to short lets

A short let isn't a tenancy. Guests book a stay, they leave on the agreed date, and the property comes back to you between bookings. For an owner who wants flexibility - to sell in eighteen months, to refurbish next spring, or simply to use the place at Christmas - that difference is the whole point. You keep control of the asset without needing a legal ground to get it back.

There's a rent-collection angle too. Guests pay up front through the platform or the booking channel. Arrears, the slowest and most stressful part of long letting, effectively disappear.

It isn't a loophole, and shouldn't be treated as one

Be clear-eyed: moving to short lets means taking on hospitality obligations. Fire risk assessments, gas and electrical safety, correct insurance, planning and licensing where local rules apply, and proper guest vetting. Anyone selling short lets as a way to dodge regulation is selling you a problem. Done properly it's a different regulated activity, not an unregulated one.

It also has to stack financially. If your property sits away from tourism, business travel or hospital and university demand, a short let can be all of the admin with none of the uplift. The honest answer for some owners is to stay long let, screen carefully and price sensibly.

A sensible way to respond

Don't panic-sell and don't panic-convert. Audit your portfolio property by property: lease terms, lender terms, local demand, your own time horizon. Convert the ones with genuine short-let demand and a need for flexibility. Keep the steady long lets where the tenant is good and the numbers work.

Regulation cycles will keep moving. The landlords who do well over the next decade are the ones running properties like businesses - compliant, well-presented and flexible enough to switch strategy when the rules change again.