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Your agency website after the Renters' Rights Act: 12 phrases to find and fix
Old pages about Section 21, fixed terms and best offers stay in Google and can now mislead. The phrases to search your own site for, and what replaces each.
When the law changes, your website does not. Pages written for landlords in 2023 about Section 21 and six-month fixed terms are still in Google, still rank, and still reach landlords and tenants. In May 2026 Propertymark warned agents that outdated pages and old PDFs could now mislead and breach the rules. Here is a list to work through, with a site search to find each phrase.
How to search your own site
In Google, type site:youragency.co.uk "section 21" (with your own domain) to see every indexed page that mentions it. Do the same for each phrase below. Then check the PDFs: landlord guides, fee schedules and tenant application packs are the documents most often forgotten.
The 12 phrases
| Phrase on the page | Why it is now wrong | Replace with |
|---|---|---|
| "Section 21 notice" / "no-fault eviction" | Section 21 cannot be used in the private rented sector since 1 May 2026 | Section 8 and the grounds for possession |
| "6- or 12-month fixed term" | Private tenancies are now assured periodic with no fixed term | "Rolling (periodic) tenancy" |
| "Assured shorthold tenancy (AST)" | New private tenancies are assured periodic tenancies | "Assured periodic tenancy" |
| "Best offers over £…" / "rent offers invited" | Unlawful: asking for, encouraging or accepting offers above the advertised rent | A fixed advertised rent |
| "Rent in advance accepted to secure" before signing | Unlawful: no rent can be required before the agreement is signed | "Up to one month's rent once the agreement is signed" |
| "Up to 6 months' rent in advance if referencing fails" | Unlawful: more than one month's rent in advance cannot be required | Guarantor or other options |
| "No DSS" / "No benefits" | Unlawful: discriminating against renters who receive benefits | Remove; assess each applicant |
| "No children" / "Professionals only" | Unlawful where it excludes families with children | Remove; assess each applicant |
| "Annual rent review clause" | Rent increases now only by Section 13 notice, once a year | "Rent may be reviewed once a year by formal notice" |
| "Tenants must give three months' notice" (or any period over two months) | Two months is the most a landlord can ask for, and what applies when the agreement is silent. An agreement can set less, and GOV.UK says a shorter period in an agreement made before 1 May 2026 still applies | "The notice in your agreement, two months at most, ending on a rent day or the day before" |
| "Break clause after 6 months" | No fixed term to break | Remove |
| "No pets" (as a blanket rule) | Landlords must consider pet requests and give reasons for refusal | "Pets considered on request" |
Five of these describe things it is now unlawful to do, not just things that are out of date. A page that says your agency invites best offers is evidence of the practice.
Landlord-facing pages need it too
Your landlord pages probably promise speedy possession through Section 21, or explain how a fixed term protects income. Rewrite them around what the agency does now: rent collection and arrears handling under the new Ground 8 threshold, compliance tracking, and Section 8 notices served correctly. Our guides on Section 8 after the Renters' Rights Act and the 2026 compliance checklist are written for exactly that reader, and you are welcome to link to them.
Do not just delete
A page that ranks has value. Update it rather than removing it, keep the same address, and add a line at the top saying when it was last updated and that it reflects the law from 1 May 2026. If a page is beyond saving, redirect its address to the nearest current page so the visitors it brings still land somewhere useful.
Then put a reminder in the diary to check again. The private rented sector database arrives from 15 December 2026, starting in the West Midlands, and the Ombudsman after it, and both will create a new set of out-of-date pages. See what the PRS Database means for agents.
This is general information for England, not legal advice.
Short answers from this page
Can a letting agent accept an offer above the advertised rent?
No. Since 1 May 2026 the rent must be advertised as a single figure and an agent or landlord must not invite, encourage or accept an offer above it. Wording such as 'offers over' or 'best and final' on a lettings website now describes something unlawful, not just out of date.
Source: Renters' Rights Act 2025
Can a landlord ask for rent in advance?
Not before the tenancy agreement is signed, and after signing no more than one month's rent in advance. Asking for six months up front from a tenant without a UK guarantor, which was common, is no longer lawful.
Source: Renters' Rights Act 2025
Where this comes from: GOV.UK "Guide to the Renters' Rights Act"; MHCLG Renters' Rights Act roadmap; Propertymark's warning about outdated agency web content as reported by Letting Agent Today, 20 May 2026; all read 2026-10-01; GOV.UK, Assured tenancy agreements: a guide for landlords, "If your tenant wants to leave" and "If the tenancy started before 1 May 2026", read 2026-10-01.
AEO Lookup editorial team
We write practical guides for people who run small UK firms, and we check every fact against its source on the date shown. Read how we review, or tell us if something has changed.
