The quiet death of the assured shorthold tenancy

Trainee solicitor Ben Bramble looks at the consequences for tenants, landlords and joint renters

When you open up your copy of the Renters’ Rights Act (the “act”) and turn past the introductory pages, you will first come across a section with the unassumingly titled ‘End of certain kinds of assured tenancy’. I say unassuming, because the effect of this provision is to banish the Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) to the dustpan of history; profoundly altering the relationship between the 4.7 million households in England’s Private Rented Sector (PRS) and their landlords.

While much has been made of the abolition of Section 21 evictions, it is this change that will affect the most people when it is implemented on 1 May 2026.

The end of ASTs

If you are among the 69% of 16–24-year-olds or 38% of 25–34-year-olds in England who rent privately , you most likely do so under an AST agreement. These agreements, in which tenants sign on for fixed, usually yearly periods, have been the default standard tenancy agreements since 1997. Whilst they do provide tenants with a sense of security, many have complained that they are overly restrictive on tenants’ lives; not allowing tenants to adapt to changes in circumstance as a result of being tied into a long contract.

Currently, if your circumstances change, the only way to escape your lease is by navigating the stressful process of finding someone to assign it to. This all changes on 1 May 2026. ASTs will be abolished and replaced by rolling monthly statutory periodic tenancies.

A brave new world

Under the new rules, tenants will be able to end their tenancy at any time by serving their landlord with a written notice to quit, giving two months’ notice, ending on a rent date.

It’s not just new tenancies that are impacted by these new rules. All existing ASTs will be converted into rolling monthly statutory periodic tenancies. This means that even if you signed a one-year AST agreement in April 2026, by 1 May 2026, that fixed term would effectively vanish.

Clearly this represents a seismic shift in the relationship between landlord and tenant, with much greater flexibility being afforded to tenants by this legislation. This flexibility, however, does come with its costs.

Unforeseen consequences

The end of the fixed term may herald in a new era of uncertainty for those renting under joint tenancy agreements.

Under the current system, if a property is let under a joint tenancy for a fixed term (e.g. four friends renting a house together for a year), they would all essentially be locked in to the tenancy until it expired. The only way for one joint tenant to leave the tenancy would be with the consent of all the other joint tenants, as well as the landlord.

Under the new system this is all changed. Any joint tenant can sever the tenancy for everyone by serving a notice to quit and giving two months’ notice. If this were to happen, the remaining tenants would have to negotiate a brand-new tenancy agreement with the landlord, who would be under no obligation to grant them one.

With the rise of housemate finding apps like SpareRoom, people often enter into tenancies with people they are yet to meet. From 1 May 2026 onwards, extra care should be taken when deciding on potential housemates, as joint tenants will essentially be at the mercy of their fellow lessees.

It is not all bad news for joint tenants, however. If one tenant stops paying their rent, unlike under the current system where the other tenants remain jointly and severally liable for the unpaid sums for the duration of the fixed term, the changes implemented by the Act will mean tenants are able to terminate the tenancy much earlier than before; potentially saving themselves liability for significant arrears. On a more practical note, from 1 May 2026, if you find yourself in an unpleasant housing situation, you are now free to remove yourself within two months, rather than having to find somebody to take your place or waiting it out until the expiry of the fixed term.

Things to look out for

If you were planning to move out at the end of your fixed term shortly after 1 May 2026, don’t assume your tenancy will simply end. Because your agreement will have automatically converted into a rolling monthly tenancy, it no longer has an expiration date.

To leave, you must now take matters into your own hands. You will need to serve your landlord a written notice to quit at least two months before you want to move out. Crucially, this notice must align with your rent periods. If you want to leave your property in September, notice must be served before your rent payment date in July.

Similarly, landlords who are expecting to get their property back at some point after 1 May 2026 should take note. Tenants will be under no obligation to leave upon the expiry of their extinguished “fixed term”. Discussions should be entered into with tenants to ascertain their future intentions. The only way to regain the property without the tenants’ consent will be by issuing a section 8 notice, the grounds for which have been updated by the Act. The last day to issue valid Section 21 notices will be 30 April 2026, with 31 July 2026 being the last day possession proceedings can be issued based off such a notice. Landlords should also be aware that they will have until 31 May 2026 to provide their tenants a written summary of the tenancy terms and a copy of an information sheet, due to be published by the government in March of this year.

Ben Bramble is a trainee solicitor in property litigation. He worked for two years of as a senior paralegal, gaining experience in public law and professional regulation.