Four in five landlords say they understand the Renters’ Rights Act, but fewer than one in four know that every landlord in England must join the new landlord database and ombudsman, according to research from property management platform August.
The August Landlord Survey 2026, which 276 UK landlords completed in September, found that 81% understand the Act at least in its main points. Just under half (46%) understand it and have already changed how they operate, while 35% understand the main points but have not yet acted. One in eight (12%) know the Act exists but not the details, and 7% had not heard of it before taking the survey.
Landlords were asked which of seven headline measures they knew about. They were most familiar with the right of tenants to request a pet, which landlords cannot unreasonably refuse (59%), and with the rule that landlords can raise rent only once a year by formal notice (55%).
Around half knew that landlords cannot refuse tenants with children or on benefits (49%), that all new tenancies are periodic (47%) and that the Act abolishes Section 21 “no-fault” evictions (46%). Fewer (42%) knew that landlords can take no more than one month’s rent in advance.
Awareness of the private rented sector database and landlord ombudsman was far lower, at 23%. Every landlord in England must join both.
“Landlords have done the hard work of understanding the parts of the Act that change how they let and how they evict,” said Richard Samuel, chief executive of August.
“What has not landed is that the database and the ombudsman are not optional extras for problem landlords; every landlord in England will have to register and sign up. That is a communication failure the sector needs to fix before the registration deadline, because the penalties for not being on the database will fall on landlords who simply never heard about it.”
Understanding rises with age. More than three-quarters (77%) of landlords aged 65 or over said they had already changed how they operate, against 41% of those aged 35 to 44. That younger group was the most likely to understand the Act but not yet act (50%). A third (33%) of landlords with fewer than three years’ experience knew the Act exists but not the details.
“These findings match what we hear from our members every week,” noted Vicki Hextall, area manager at East Midlands Property Owners (EMPO).
“Most landlords have made a real effort to understand the Renters’ Rights Act, and the fact that so many have tightened their referencing shows they are trying to reduce risk rather than walk away. But the low awareness of the landlord database and ombudsman is a warning. Every landlord in England will have to register, and the sector has a lot of work to do to get that message out before the deadline.”
