When the main provisions of the Renters' Rights Act came into force on 1 May, most of the commentary was necessarily speculative. Nobody knew how tenants would use their new rights, how the tribunals would cope, or which parts of the legislation would prove awkward in daily practice.
Four months on, some of that is clearer. And the picture for landlords in Finchley and the wider Barnet area is more nuanced than either the alarmist or the reassuring headlines suggested.
The local backdrop is still solid
It is worth starting with demand, because it frames everything else.
Average private rents in Barnet reached £1,945 a month in July 2026, up 3.6% on the year, according to ONS figures. That is comfortably ahead of the London-wide increase of 3.0%. Within the borough, terraced properties saw the strongest growth at 4.0%, and three-bedroom homes rose 3.8% — both consistent with what Finchley agents see on the ground, where family houses within reach of the Northern Line remain the most contested stock.
By property type, average Barnet rents in July stood at around £1,734 for flats and maisonettes, £2,225 for terraced houses, and £2,566 for semi-detached homes. By size, one-bedroom properties averaged £1,496 and three-bedroom properties £2,250.
So the fundamentals have not shifted. What has shifted is the process by which landlords realise that value.
Rent increases: the change that is biting hardest
This is where the practical impact has been sharpest.
Since 1 May, the only valid route to a rent increase is the statutory Section 13 process, once every twelve months, with two months' notice rather than the previous one. Rent review clauses in existing agreements became void on that date, and increases cannot be agreed informally with a tenant outside the statutory process.
The consequence has been a marked rise in tenants exercising a right they always had but rarely used. Property tribunal decisions on rent increases averaged 42 a month across the twelve months to May 2026. That rose to 109 in May and 129 in June.
Two changes explain the shift. Tenants no longer face the implicit risk of a Section 21 notice in response to a challenge, and the tribunal can no longer backdate an increase to the application date — the new rent takes effect only from the date of the decision. With a £47 fee and no downside, challenging has become close to cost-free.
For landlords, the practical implications are concrete. A challenged increase can be delayed by three months or more, and that lost income is not recoverable. Analysis of one sample of tribunal outcomes reported in August suggested a substantial proportion of proposed increases were reduced, often where the landlord had provided limited supporting evidence.
The lesson is not to avoid increasing rent. It is that "costs have gone up" is no longer an argument that works. A Section 13 notice now needs to be backed by comparable local evidence — similar properties, in similar condition, currently letting in N2, N3 or N12 — documented before the notice goes out rather than assembled afterwards if a challenge lands.
Possession: slower, and less forgiving of paperwork
Section 21 is gone. The transitional window closed on 31 July 2026, after which notices served before 1 May could no longer be relied on. All tenancies are now periodic assured tenancies, and possession requires a specific Schedule 2 ground under Section 8.
Two points matter most in practice.
First, the main rent arrears ground now requires three months' unpaid rent rather than two, and the arrears must be at that level both when the notice is served and at the hearing. A tenant who reduces the balance below the threshold before the hearing defeats the ground. Where the shortfall exists only because a Universal Credit housing payment has not yet reached the tenant, that amount is excluded from the calculation.
Second, the court cannot make a possession order if the deposit has not been properly protected in an approved scheme. This is not new advice, but it is now a hard gate on your ability to recover the property.
More cases are being contested than under the old regime, and possession timelines have lengthened accordingly. Acting early on arrears, and documenting every communication, matters more than it used to.
The paperwork that catches people out
Landlords were required to serve existing tenants with the Renters' Rights Act information sheet or a written statement of terms by 31 May 2026. If that slipped in the transition, it is worth resolving now rather than discovering the gap during a dispute.
Also worth checking across a portfolio: rent in advance is banned for new tenancies from 1 May, rent periods are capped at one month, and consent for a tenant to keep a pet cannot be unreasonably refused. Knowingly or recklessly misusing a possession ground has been added to the offences for which the First-tier Tribunal can impose a rent repayment order of up to two years' rent.
What is still coming
The Act rolls out in phases, and the next one is close. The PRS database begins a regional rollout from late 2026, with mandatory landlord and property registration and an annual fee to follow. The PRS Landlord Ombudsman, which all private landlords must join, is expected around 2028. The extension of Awaab's Law to the private sector remains subject to consultation, and the modernised Decent Homes Standard has a long-term date of 2035.
Separately, the deadline for energy efficiency is now fixed. The Warm Homes Plan, published on 21 January 2026, confirmed that privately rented homes in England and Wales must reach EPC C or equivalent by 1 October 2030. The earlier phased approach, which would have applied to new tenancies from 2028, has been dropped in favour of a single date. Compliance will be measured against reformed EPC metrics rather than today's single rating.
Given the age of much Finchley stock — a large share of it Victorian and interwar — this is the item most likely to require capital planning rather than administrative tidying.
The practical position
The landlords having the easiest time of it four months in are not the ones with the largest portfolios. They are the ones with good records, evidenced rent decisions, and tenants who have no particular reason to make life difficult.
That last point is doing more work than it used to. In a regime where a tenant can delay an increase for a quarter at a cost of £47, the value of a tenancy that is running well has gone up considerably.
If you own rental property in Finchley or the surrounding N postcodes and want to review where your tenancies stand — evidence for your next Section 13, compliance across a portfolio, or simply what your property should realistically be achieving now — the lettings team at David Harris & Co are happy to go through it with you.
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Ready to make a smart move in Finchley’s rental market? Contact David Harris & Co for expert advice and a stress-free experience. Call us on 0208 346 9122 to get started. Let’s make Finchley your next home.
