I’m sorry if this has been covered before but I haven’t been on here for some time. We have 3 tenancies arranged through OpenRent. In each case, the fixed term tenancy expires in March. We are very happy with our tenants and we would normally offer them another 6 or 12 month fixed term but fixed terms are prohibited from 1 May under the Renters Rights Act. Has OpenRent offered any advice as to how landlords should proceed in these cases?
When the fixed term ends in March the tenancy will become periodic which is in synch with the new rules. Just allow them to go periodic. There is no need to issue new tenancies. The government will issue new information in March I believe that you must serve to your tenants which will convert your existing AST to the new Assured Tenancy. For new tenancies that start after 1st May will require the new Assured Tenancy agreement which are not yet available.
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Thank you Christopher. I appreciate that it will be possible for the tenant to hold over on a periodic basis but I was interested to know if OpenRent had issued any guidance. i know that some landlords are renewing on the basis of a new contract Renters Rights Act compliant from the outset.
@mod_harry are you able to help please
There’s this
Guide to the Renters’ Rights Act for Landlords 2026 Guide to the Renters' Rights Act for Landlords 2026
but I’ve not seen anything from OR on when they will update their standard template AST. @mod_harry might be able to help
Changing them all unnecessarily is an extra cost and would also need properly ending current ASTs with tenants by deed of surrender or them giving notice.
For now I would just check your current AST inc any custom clauses to work out which if any won’t be ok to use/apply any more. For example if you currently require rent before the rental month/period you will need to change payment date. Or if your agreement automatically increases rent by CPI you can’t do that after 1 may.
Best
Thanks David. I’m with you that a new agreement is not needed and might be disadvantageous if there is the possibility of selling in the foreseeable future. However, I understand that some landlords are taking a different view and I can’t get to the bottom of why. As to non-compliant terms such as a rent review clause, presumably they simply become unenforceable after 1 May.
exactly and any LL who knows where they stand under the new legislation would never rely on such a clause from May onwards. The RRA doesn’t immediately render all current ASTs invalid. It merely sets out what can and can’t be considered valid in them. I won’t be changing a thing in regards to the ASTs our tenants currently have and nothing in LL association briefings I’ve sat through has indicated you need to do otherwise.
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Think it’s multiple things
- Some LLs fear over zealous Council Officers will use clauses as a means to collect big fines in a money making exercise. For anyone who’s had to deal with Councils/officialdom or bad tenants it may be a legit worry
Ignores a) that Councils will have no access to the millions of tenancy agreements unless a LL does something wrong and tenant supplies a copy and b) that as the clauses are unenforceable and govt guidance says don’t need to have new tenancy agreement they will become void, Councils can’t take action against LLs just because a clause is present that’s already become void due to the Act, provided LL doesn’t try to use it or repeat it in a new tenancy agreement
- Some LLs are cautious and don’t want to inadvertently be caught out with a big fine when easy enough (with tenant agreement) to end old ast and start a new one. If old one is v old with lots of amendments it may be easier to start a new one from ‘scratch ‘ with a more recent template
3.Letting agents may sometimes be misselling (some already persuade LLs to renew the 12 tenancy agreements every year instead of letting become periodic so they get an extra fee)
- LLs can be not entirely rationale or ignorant (not their main job/expertise) and will follow the herd/trend just like others. End of s21 has been final straw for some. Selling up when everyone else is may mean you get a lower price. But what seems logical and obvious to me will be nonsensical to others..
Again David, thanks for your fulll and helpful response. I too think that there are a lot of nervous landlords about and perhaps there are others who simply think it’s wrong for a tenancy agrement to contain void or unenforceable provisions. The problem is of course that a new tenancy re-sets the I year clock if a landlord wants to move in himself or sell. As regards agent misselling, I don’t think Openrent charges for renewals so a view from them would be helpful.
@Janette1 can’t see OR advising LLs to renew when govt advice is it’s not needed as creates more work for OR to review the new contracts. Nor will they advise against using a service they include for free as it’s a selling point which some LLs will want to use inc for the reasons you cite. At most they will say up to LLs to use or not
Yes, David. I due course, it will be interesting to see OR’s new tenancy agreement and how generally its processes change in the light of the Renters Reform Act
If your tenancy agreement is through Openrent, then its a contractual periodic type and the same tenancy therefore continues monthly once the initial term expires. The Government documents that have yet to be issued will change the terms of your existing agreement and you will need to send a copy to the tenant explaining the changes.
There are no landlords issuing RRA compliant tenancy agreements at the moment because they don’t yet exist and probably wont for a while. I cant see any reason why a landlord should go down this road, so I would just ignore any post you see from them at the moment until things become clearer.
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Thank you David. We have 3 OpenRent tenancies, fixed terms expiring in March followed by monthly periodic on the tenant holding over. You say that RRA compliant tenancies “don’t exist and won’t for a while”. I know of one from a highly respectable source. I suspect there are others. The RRA was passed sometime ago and whilst its main provisions willl not be in place until May, i think it’s relatively straightforward to produce one and as I’ve said at the outset, I’d be interested in the OpenRent position but it seems we don’t have anything from them yet
The Government only released draft details of
‘what must be included in a tenancy agreement following the implementation of the RRA’
on 19th January, so your highly respectable source was either guessing what they may say, is very quick to get that done in less than 2 days, or isnt as reliable as you thought!
The Renters’ Rights Act received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025.and the the template I am looking at was produced on 20 December 2025. It was drafted by an acknowledged specialist lawyer based on the wording in the Act and Government Guidelines issued to that date.
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Hi @Janette1
I can confirm that any tenancies which have been, or will be, created via OpenRent will automatically be updated to reflect the new regulations.
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The detail of what must be included in a tenancy agreement are NOT in the act as enacted on 27 October, so any agreement drafted in December, and before the details released on 19 Jan, will be best-guess based on assumptions of how the Secretary of State was likely to excercise the regulation-making powers under the Act.
So your expert may have guessed right, or may now be re-visiting their draft to make sure it complies now the facts are available.
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As you wish Karl11, let’s just move on!
Is there an OpenRent RRA compliant template available which Rent Now Landlords can look at please?