Landlords in London resisted the temptation to hike rents ahead of the Renters’ Rights Act coming into force last month.

New figures from Benham and Reeves show rent rises remained consistent before and after the Act received Royal Assent in the Autumn.

Rents have increased by just 0.7% since then, the same rate of growth seen during the equivalent five-month period prior to October last year.

Landlords aren’t using the legislation as an excuse to increase rent.”

Marc von Grundherr, Director at Benham and Reeves (pictured), says: “One of the key concerns surrounding the Renters’ Rights Act was that landlords would look to offset the additional regulatory burden by increasing rents, but the data suggests this simply hasn’t happened across London.

“This demonstrates that landlords aren’t using the legislation as an excuse to increase rents and, ultimately, rental values continue to be driven by local market fundamentals – namely the balance between supply and tenant demand, rather than legislative change alone.”

Majority

A majority of London boroughs – at a total of 18 out of 32 – have seen the pace of rent rises slow since the legislation became law.

Kingston-upon-Thames has reported the largest reduction in rental growth. Between May and October 2025 rents increased by 2.9%, but fell 1.9% in the five months following Royal Assent.

A handful of council areas recorded an acceleration in rents. Brent stands out in this respect, having seen rents fall by 5.2%. Rental values increased by 2.2% in the following five months, representing a swing of 7.4%.

Feared spike

A feared spike in rents ahead of the Act failed to materialise across the country, research by Inventory Base suggested last month.

Only around a quarter of landlords appeared to pre-empt new restrictions on rent increases by front-loading ahead of the 1st May deadline.

More on the Renters’ Rights Act