ConsumerWise hub
Housing & Renting
Start with the housing problem you actually have: notice, rent, deposit, repairs, eviction, social housing or homelessness: then move into the detailed guide, law or tool that fits it.
Start with the problem
What is happening with your home or tenancy?
Housing disputes often overlap. These routes take you to the strongest starting point without requiring you to know the legal label.
Renting Rights Resolver
Work through notice, rent, eviction, repairs, access, landlord or letting-agent problems and see the likely route, law and next step.
Work through my renting problem → Interactive toolDeposit Dispute Helper
Challenge deductions, delayed return, missing protection or weak evidence and work out the scheme, court or evidence route.
Work through my deposit problem →Common situations
I’m moving out but the landlord says I still owe rentNotice, surrender and overlapping rent →The landlord wants to keep some or all of my depositEvidence, wear and tear and deductions →Repairs are not being doneResponsibility, evidence and enforcement →My landlord wants me to leavePossession grounds, notice and court process →Jump to a housing subject
Leaving, notice & moving home
Leaving, notice & moving home
Moving out is not the same thing as legally ending a tenancy. Start here for notice periods, early agreement, overlapping homes and rent after the end date.
How tenants in England end an assured periodic tenancy after the 2026 reforms, including two-month notice and joint-tenancy complications.
How moving out, giving notice and legally ending a tenancy differ, and when rent can remain due after you have left the property.
How to analyse a dispute about whether a tenant gave enough notice, used the right end date or validly served notice under the post-May-2026 rules.
How an agreed surrender or shorter notice period can end a tenancy earlier, what counts as useful evidence and why “the landlord knew” is not always enough.
What to check when a new tenancy starts before the old one ends, including moves into council or housing-association accommodation.
When a tenant can reclaim rent that relates to days after an assured tenancy has legally ended, and how to separate that from leaving early.
What a joint private tenancy means for rent, notice, deposits and one tenant wanting to leave after the 2026 reforms.
A practical guide to student housing disputes: joint contracts, deposits, HMOs, guarantors, repairs and moving out.
Deposits, rent & fees
Deposits, rent & fees
Protection, deductions, return delays, rent in advance, increases, arrears and prohibited charges.
How deposit protection works in England, the 30-day deadline, prescribed information and scheme dispute resolution.
How to challenge end-of-tenancy deposit deductions for cleaning, damage, missing items, redecoration and alleged rent arrears.
How inventories, photographs, invoices, age, condition, check-out reports and rent records affect a tenancy-deposit dispute.
How deposit scheme adjudication works, what evidence to submit, what happens to the money and when another route may be needed.
What to do when a landlord or agent delays returning a tenancy deposit, will not confirm deductions or stops responding.
What to check when a landlord failed to protect a tenancy deposit on time, including court remedies and evidence.
How age, condition, expected lifespan and ordinary use affect what a landlord can fairly deduct from a tenancy deposit.
How inventories, photographs, meter readings and condition reports affect deposit and damage disputes.
The one-week cap, 15-day default deadline, when a holding deposit must be refunded and when it can lawfully be retained in England.
The new England rules restricting rent in advance, including the signed-agreement stage and the general one-month limit.
When and how a private landlord in England can increase rent after 1 May 2026, notice requirements and First-tier Tribunal challenges.
How to deal with rent arrears, disputed balances, payment plans and possession proceedings without losing sight of evidence or deadlines.
What landlords and agents in England can charge, deposit caps, permitted default fees and how to challenge prohibited payments.
When private tenants in England can ask the First-tier Tribunal to order repayment of rent, including the expanded post-May-2026 regime.
The 2026 ban on rental bidding in England: advertised prices, above-asking offers and what landlords and agents must not encourage or accept.
Repairs, damp, safety & condition
Repairs, damp, safety & condition
Repairs, hazards, damp and mould, compensation, gas/electrical safety and council enforcement.
Who is responsible for repairs in England, reasonable timescales, access, council enforcement and what to do when jobs keep being closed without a fix.
How to evidence and escalate damp and mould, distinguish causes, challenge “lifestyle” dismissals and use private/social housing routes.
How councils assess housing hazards in England under the modernised 2026 HHSRS and what Category 1 or Category 2 findings mean.
The main landlord safety duties for privately rented homes in England: gas checks, electrical inspections, alarms and urgent hazards.
When repair failures can lead to compensation, rent-related redress, damaged belongings claims or court action, and why valuation depends on evidence.
Repair responsibilities, evidence, complaint escalation and the interaction with Awaab’s Law for urgent hazards in England.
The current social-housing repair deadlines in England, what applies now in September 2026 and what expands on 30 November 2026.
When the local council can help with hazards, licensing, illegal eviction, prohibited payments and Renters’ Rights Act breaches.
Access, harassment & landlord possession
Access, harassment & landlord possession
Unwanted entry, privacy, harassment, illegal eviction and when a landlord wants to sell, move in or regain possession.
The difference between notice and permission to enter a rented home, reasonable access for repairs and what to do about repeated unwanted visits.
What to do when a landlord or agent lets themselves into your home, uses retained keys or repeatedly ignores agreed access arrangements.
Recognising unlawful pressure, lock changes, utility interference and eviction without the court/bailiff process in England.
How private landlords in England can recover possession after 1 May 2026, section 8 grounds, notices, court orders and bailiffs.
The possession grounds for a landlord selling a rented home or moving themselves/family in, including the 12-month protected period and four-month notice.
What a sale means for an existing tenancy, access for viewings, possession notices and the buyer becoming landlord.
What to do about persistent neighbour noise or nuisance when your landlord, the neighbour’s landlord and the council may have different roles.
Starting and managing a private tenancy
Starting and managing a private tenancy
Written information, tenancy status, pets, licensing, discrimination, benefits and unfair terms.
How England’s post-May-2026 periodic tenancy system works, including rent periods, tenant notice and the end of fixed-term ASTs.
What private landlords in England must put in writing after the 2026 tenancy reforms, and what to do when paperwork is missing or contradictory.
Why lodgers can have different rights from assured tenants, including access, notice and eviction protections.
The post-May-2026 right to request a pet in England, the 28-day response process and what counts as a potentially reasonable refusal.
When a shared rented home in England may need an HMO licence, additional/selective licensing and why licensing failures matter to tenants.
What landlords and agents in England must not do when applicants receive benefits, have children or are protected by equality law.
Affordability checks, benefit income, discrimination rules and practical evidence when applying for a private tenancy in England.
When a tenancy term may be unenforceable or unfair, and why “you signed it” does not override housing statutes or consumer-law fairness.
How equality duties can affect communication, policies, physical features and housing services, and how to frame an adjustment request.
The live 2026 private-renting reforms in England: section 21, periodic tenancies, rent, pets, bidding, advance rent, discrimination and what is still future.
Landlords, agents & enforcement
Landlords, agents & enforcement
Complaints about landlords and agents, redress, client money and the developing private-rented-sector enforcement system.
How to turn an informal repair or tenancy dispute into a focused written complaint and choose the right enforcement route.
How to complain about poor letting-agent service, fees, misleading information, mishandled money and failure to follow instructions.
How letting-agent redress schemes differ from client money protection and tenancy deposit protection.
What is coming next under the Renters’ Rights Act, and why tenants should not be sent to a private-renting ombudsman that is not yet live.
Homelessness, temporary accommodation & allocations
Homelessness, temporary accommodation & allocations
Statutory homelessness applications, interim accommodation, reviews, appeals and housing allocation decisions.
What happens when you ask an English council for homelessness help: 56-day prevention/relief duties, interim accommodation and written decisions.
Rights and complaint routes when a council places a household in temporary accommodation, including suitability and the new September-2026 child notification duty.
How to challenge an English council homelessness decision under section 202, the 21-day request deadline and the difference between review and complaint.
How allocation schemes, reasonable preference, banding/priority decisions, reviews and complaints fit together in England.
Leasehold & managing agents
Leasehold & managing agents
Service charges, major works consultation and complaints about managing agents.
How leaseholders can check service-charge liability, reasonableness, accounts and First-tier Tribunal routes in England and Wales.
When leaseholders must be consulted about major works or long-term agreements and what can happen if the landlord skips the process.
How leaseholders and residents can separate a managing agent service complaint from the underlying landlord/freeholder service-charge or repair dispute.
Renting elsewhere in the UK
Renting elsewhere in the UK
Do not apply English private-renting rules to Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
A nation-specific overview of Renting Homes (Wales): occupation contracts, written statements, repairs/fitness, deposits and possession.
A nation-specific overview of Scottish private renting: PRTs, deposits, rent increases, repairs, access, eviction and 2026 reforms.
A nation-specific overview of Northern Ireland private renting: tenancy information, deposits, rent increases, repairs and notice to quit.
Law behind housing rights
See the statutes these routes rely on.
ConsumerWise connects practical housing guidance to the official legislation, including the Renters’ Rights Act, Housing Acts, deposit law, repair duties and unlawful-eviction protections.
Official sources
Social housing
Social housing
Council and housing-association landlord complaints, repairs, ASB and Housing Ombudsman routes.
How to run a council or housing-association landlord complaint through the statutory two-stage process and preserve the underlying housing issue.
When a council is acting as your landlord, how the Housing Ombudsman route differs from complaints about homelessness, allocations or other council functions.
Complaining about a housing association: repairs, tenancy management, charges, ASB handling and escalation to the Housing Ombudsman.
When the Housing Ombudsman can investigate a social landlord, what evidence helps and how its complaint/review process fits together.
How to complain about a social landlord’s ASB response, preserve incident evidence and use the multi-agency ASB case review where appropriate.