At Blossom Group, we have sat with too many people who have been evicted for no reason. Too many families told "no DSS" before a landlord would even speak with them. Too many women — many of them Black, South Asian, or from migrant communities — who endured leaking ceilings, broken showers, mould-covered walls, because they feared that complaining would cost them their home.
The Renters' Rights Act, which came into force on 1 May 2026, changes the legal landscape. But laws do not enforce themselves. They do not speak Urdu or Somali or Bengali. They do not account for the fear that comes from not having leave to remain, or the exhaustion of single parenthood, or the cultural shame of being seen to make trouble with a landlord. That is where we come in.
What the law now says
The rights you have from May 2026
Here is what has changed — and why each change matters especially to the communities we serve.
No more section 21 evictions
Landlords can no longer evict you without giving a legal reason. This ends the single biggest tool of intimidation used against renters who complain about conditions.
Ban on "no DSS" and "no children"
Blanket bans against benefit claimants or families with children are now illegal. Landlords cannot refuse to consider you on these grounds alone.
Indefinite tenancies
Fixed-term contracts are replaced with rolling periodic tenancies — meaning you can put down roots without the threat of a contract simply not being renewed.
Two months' notice to leave
If you need to move, you give two months' notice — rather than being locked in or penalised. More flexibility, finally working in your favour.
Cap on rent in advance
Landlords can only ask for one month's rent upfront. This ends the common practice of demanding five or six months' advance — a near-impossible barrier for people on low incomes.
National landlord register
A new Private Rented Sector Database will record all landlords — bringing greater accountability and making it easier to identify those who break the rules.
Community reality
What this looks like on the ground
The legal changes are significant. But in our work across East London — through the Community Box, our Walk and Talk sessions, our Togetherness Café, and one-to-one advocacy — we hear what really happens when people try to exercise their rights. Here is what we know.
The "no DSS" wall — still standing in practice
For years, people receiving Universal Credit or Housing Benefit were told — sometimes politely, often brutally — that landlords would not rent to them. This happened overwhelmingly to single mothers, disabled people, and people from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds. Many never contested it because they did not know it was discrimination, or because they needed housing too urgently to fight.
The ban is now law. But changing the law does not instantly change landlord behaviour. Discrimination will not always be explicit — it may come disguised as "the property has been let," or references being demanded that are impossible to obtain, or simply never getting a reply. Knowing the law is one thing. Having someone to call when it is being broken is another. That is what we offer.
"My landlord used to come round unannounced. I was scared to say anything because I thought he would throw us out. I didn't know I had any rights. I just thought — this is how it is when you're a renter and you're Brown."
— Community member, East London (story shared with permission)Section 21 — the sword held over heads
Of all the protections in the act, the abolition of section 21 "no fault" evictions is the most transformative. Section 21 was not just a legal instrument — it was a psychological one. The knowledge that a landlord could end your tenancy with two months' notice, for no stated reason, silenced hundreds of thousands of people. Damp walls went unreported. Harassment went unchallenged. Conditions went unquestioned.
Shelter's own research found that People of Colour were 51% more likely to have tolerated poor conditions to keep their home. This was not indifference — it was survival. When the penalty for speaking up is losing your roof, you do not speak up. The end of section 21 changes that calculation.
"For our communities, the threat of eviction was a tool of control. No fault eviction was how bad landlords kept people quiet. Removing it doesn't just change the law — it changes the power dynamic."
Blossom Group Advocacy TeamThe rent-in-advance trap
The cap of one month's rent in advance sounds straightforward. For us, it is a lifeline. We have seen families asked to pay five or six months upfront — sometimes £6,000 to £10,000 — to secure a property. This made the private market effectively closed to anyone without savings, which in communities shaped by low wages, irregular work, and no generational wealth, means almost everyone.
Landlords knew what they were doing. These demands filtered out the people they did not want — and those people were disproportionately from our communities. The new cap is a direct strike at that financial gatekeeping.
Language, literacy, and the knowledge gap
One thing the act cannot do by itself is bridge the gap between law and lived reality for people who face language barriers. Our volunteer team works across more than 90 languages. Every week we see the same thing: people who have rights they do not know about, in a system written in language they cannot easily read, enforced through processes they do not know how to navigate.
We will be translating the key rights from this act into plain language across our community languages. We will be hosting sessions — at the Togetherness Café, through the Community Box, through Just Ask Raj and Real Talk with Bal — to make sure people know what they are now entitled to. Knowledge is the first act of advocacy.
What's still missing
The act does not fix everything
We welcome the Renters' Rights Act. It represents real progress won by years of campaigning by renters, housing charities, and communities like ours. But we would be failing the people we serve if we did not name what it leaves unresolved.
Gaps that remain
- No rent control. Rents can still rise without limit between tenancies — and in East London, that means displacement. Families who can finally enforce repairs may still find themselves priced out the following year. Rent stabilisation is still urgently needed.
- Guarantor demands remain unchecked. Landlords routinely demand guarantors — someone to co-sign and take liability — as a condition of renting. For people who are new to this country, estranged from family, or without professional contacts, this is an insurmountable barrier. The act does not address this.
- The Right to Rent scheme stays. This policy — which requires landlords to check tenants' immigration status — has been widely shown to entrench racial discrimination. Shelter, the Runnymede Trust, and many others have documented how landlords, faced with immigration paperwork they do not understand, simply reject anyone who looks or sounds foreign. It remains on the statute book.
- Awaab's Law and the Decent Homes Standard are delayed. The government has said these will come into force later — dates not yet confirmed. For people living in homes with mould, damp, and dangerous conditions right now, waiting is not an option.
We will continue advocating on every one of these gaps. The Renters' Rights Act is a step — a meaningful one. It is not the destination.
Our commitment
What Blossom Group is doing right now
We are not an organisation that reads policy documents and moves on. We are in the room — the living room, the café, the community centre — with people for whom these changes are not abstract. Here is what we are actively doing.
Through the Community Box, we are providing hands-on support with housing issues: helping people understand their tenancy agreements, drafting letters to landlords, navigating council processes, and accompanying people to appointments when needed. We help fill in forms, challenge decisions, and most importantly, we do all of this in a way that respects people's culture, language, and dignity.
Through Just Ask Raj and Real Talk with Bal, we are creating trusted, accessible spaces where people can raise concerns they might not bring anywhere else — including housing worries — and receive clear, compassionate guidance.
Through the Bazaar of the Story Tellers and our community storytelling work, we are capturing and amplifying the lived experiences of renters in our communities — because data changes policy, but stories change minds.
And through our broader advocacy — our reports, our community voice, our presence at the table — we will continue pushing for the parts of the renting system that still need to change.
"When I came to Blossom I didn't speak much English and I didn't understand my rights at all. They helped me write to my landlord about the damp. It was the first time I ever felt like my home actually had to be looked after."
— Community member, supported through the Community BoxA law that exists on paper but is not known, not understood, and not enforced — is not a law that helps anyone. Our job, as always, is to close the gap between what is written and what is real. That is what it means to advocate alongside communities rather than for them from a distance.
If you or someone you know needs help understanding your housing rights — reach out to us on WhatsApp in any language. We will get back to you.
How we can support you
If you're facing housing difficulties, you don't have to navigate this alone. Blossom Group offers free, culturally aware, multilingual support.
Community Box
One-to-one housing advocacy, form filling, letters to landlords, benefits advice.
Just Ask Raj
Practical guidance in a trusted, informal space. No judgement, no jargon.
Real Talk with Bal
Honest conversation about the real challenges our communities face, including housing.
Togetherness Café
A warm, welcoming space where connections — and knowledge — are shared over food.