What is the Housing Act 1988 & what rights does it give me? (2024 update)

It also contains many qualifications and exceptions to the rules, which can be confusing.

If you're unsure what precisely the Act means for you, this guide provides an explanation of the rights that it offers you and a breakdown of its main purposes.

We’ve also covered some potential changes on the horizon, which could have far-reaching consequences for landlords and how you go about your business if new laws are passed.

As a landlord, you are very likely to have come across the Housing Act 1988 at some point.

It's referenced numerous times in the tenancy agreements you'll have signed and is, in essence, the law that governs the Private Rental Sector (PRS) and those who operate within it.

The easiest way to think of it is a rulebook containing both landlords' and tenants' statutory rights and legal responsibilities.

It's not the same as a tenancy agreement, which is a common misconception among landlords and tenants who often confuse the two.

While a tenancy agreement is a legal contract between the two parties involved in a rental transaction, specifying the terms of the individual tenancy (such as its length and the amount of rent owed each month), the Housing Act is there to stipulate the conditions within the tenancy agreement.

Before 1988, the PRS looked very different, with most tenancies taking the form of 'protected and statutory' tenancies. This, in turn, created a legal system that came down heavily on the tenants' side.

As a result, a situation arose whereby tenants had the right to stay in a rented property indefinitely, passing the tenancy down to their relatives when they died.

In these scenarios, it became very tricky for landlords to get back possession of their properties.

As a consequence of this legal inequality, landlords became far less willing to let their properties over fears that they'd eventually lose control of them.

This, combined with the mass sell-off of council properties due to Margaret Thatcher's Right to Buy policy, led to a shortage of housing that the Housing Act 1988 sought to address.

The Housing Act 1988 significantly reduced rent regulation, allowing landlords to charge whatever they liked for a property (something that is still the case today, despite growing calls from some for the return of rent controls of some description).

The change also meant that the only party with the right to challenge the prices set by landlords were their tenants.

There are only certain circumstances in which tenants may challenge the rent.

These are during the first six months of an assured shorthold tenancy (AST) or upon service of a notice to increase rent, which landlords can use annually to raise the rent after the fixed term has ended.

Tenants who believe their rent is higher than the current market value can refer their case to a Rent Assessment Panel for review in the first six months of an AST.

Most tenants, however, are unlikely to take this step in light of the powers you have, as a landlord, to end the tenancy in accordance with Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988.

What's more, landlords can now increase rents without using the notice procedure, opting instead via a 'renewal' tenancy agreement.

The changes to rent regulation mean that tenants' rights to challenge landlords over rent – outlined above – have less sway over landlords and are, as a result, used less frequently. The amendments made as part of the Housing Act, and the rebalancing of power this caused, are one of the major reasons rental prices have grown so rapidly since the late 1980s.

As a result of the Housing Act 1988, the rules regarding succession became similar to those under the Rent Act, whereby only a spouse can inherit rental rights.

The changes to the succession laws directly impact very few landlords – mostly because assured tenancies, which state that only a spouse can inherit rental rights, are uncommon in the PRS.

Under ASTs, which also came into force in the late 1980s and now make up most tenancies in the PRS, there are no rights of succession. In other words, if the tenant dies, the spouse or other beneficiary has no right to remain in the property. With this type of tenancy, succession rights have become irrelevant precisely because the landlord now has the power to serve a Section 21 notice to evict the tenant through the courts.

The Housing Act 1988 split the types of tenancy on offer into two: one offering long-term security and one without it. The former is known as an assured tenancy, which is very similar to the old 'protected' tenancy, albeit with the caveat that there's mandatory ground for possession in the case of serious rent arrears.

Assured tenancies are seldom used by private landlords but are much more likely to be utilised by social housing providers such as housing associations.

ASTs, by contrast, are much more prevalent among landlords – a type of assured tenancy which differs in two ways from the more traditional version. Firstly, it offers tenants the right to challenge the rent they are set in the first six months of a tenancy (explored above). Secondly, it provides an additional shorthold ground for possession, set out in Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988.

According to Section 5 of the Housing Act 1988, an assured tenancy or AST continues as a statutory periodic tenancy after the end of the fixed contractual term.

While this offers tenants with an assured tenancy long-term security, a periodic AST means the let can be ended at any time on the proviso that a properly drafted Section 21 notice has been issued.

The right for the landlord to recover possession of the property after the end of the fixed term, under Section 21 of the Act, has helped alter the PRS radically.

As a result of Section 21, many people are willing to rent their property out, knowing that they can evict tenants and take possession of the property within six months of the contractually fixed term ending if required.

This is starkly different to the previous state of play, where a landlord could have found themselves obliged to rent the property to two generations of a family.

As the Act specifies the legal rights of both property owners and their tenants, it's hugely important for landlords.

It's crucial to remember that the goal of the Housing Act 1988 isn't to shift all of the power in the direction of landlords – instead, it's there to make sure that both parties are treated fairly.

It's key to have a broad understanding of the areas the Act governs to allow you to refer to it if issues arise, but being familiar with the law in its entirety won't be necessary.

As a landlord, you must know your rights and responsibilities – and getting a good hold on the Housing Act 1988 will help you achieve that.

It's also essential that, as a landlord, you make sure that none of the clauses in your tenancy agreement(s) conflict with the statutory rights outlined within the Housing Act 1988.

By not complying with this law, your tenancy agreement would become invalid, with the Housing Act having the status as a ruling law which can't be overwritten.

In particular, the Act is very strict regarding AST agreements, which came into force at the same time as the Act itself.

In 2019, then Prime Minister Theresa May promised to abolish Section 21 notices. This edict was enshrined in the Conservatives’ manifesto later that year by subsequent premier, Boris Johnson.

Five years later, and two PMs later, the Renters (Reform) Bill, which would make this law, is slowly making its way through the House of Commons.

At the time of writing, the Bill was due a third reading in parliament. However, it has stalled at this stage (even before passing through the House of Lords, which is the next requirement to achieve Royal Assent) after the government announced an indefinite delay, pending court reforms to cope with the proposed changes.

So what are those changes? 

If the Bill were to be passed, AST agreements and Section 21 notices would both be abolished.

Rolling monthly tenancy agreements would become the standard, with tenants able to give two months’ notice while landlords would need reasonable grounds for eviction under a strengthened Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988. 

However, landlords would be given greater powers to evict tenants more quickly in case of persistent rent arrears or anti-social behaviour.