The Renters’ Rights Act and your carpets: what changed in May 2026
Since the beginning of May I’ve had a version of the same phone call at least once a fortnight.
A tenant rings up, slightly panicked, having read something online. Or a landlord rings up, slightly irritated, having read something different online. Both want to know the same thing: given the new rules, who is responsible for the carpets at the end of a tenancy, and can money still come out of the deposit?
The confusion is understandable. The Renters’ Rights Act received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025, and its first major phase took effect on 1 May 2026. That’s fifteen weeks ago as I write this. It’s the biggest change to renting in England in decades, and a lot of what’s been written about it online is either wrong, out of date, or quietly recycled from American legislation with a similar name.
I’m a carpet cleaner, not a solicitor. But I’ve spent seventeen years working with tenants, landlords and letting agents across London, I’ve seen more checkout inspections than I can count, and I can tell you plainly what has actually changed on the ground for carpets – and what hasn’t changed at all.
What the Act actually changed
Start with the headline items, because they set the context for everything that follows.
Section 21 – the so-called no fault eviction – ended in England from 1 May 2026. Most assured shorthold tenancies converted automatically to assured periodic tenancies, meaning rolling arrangements rather than fixed twelve month terms. Rent increases are now limited to once a year, cannot happen in the first year of a new tenancy, and require at least two months’ notice on the prescribed form. Landlords can no longer accept offers above the advertised rent.
None of that is about carpets. But two consequences of it very much are.
Tenancies now end at less predictable times
Under fixed terms, the rental market ran on a rhythm. Tenancies ended in blocks, agents knew months in advance, and checkout inspections clustered around predictable dates. Periodic tenancies break that up. People give notice when they’re ready, not when a contract expires.
For me that’s meant a noticeable shift in when end of tenancy work comes in – more spread out, more short notice. If you’re a landlord or agent, it means you have less lead time to get a property turned around between tenants. If you’re a tenant, it means booking a cleaner two weeks ahead is no longer a luxury, it’s necessary.
Pets are now part of the conversation
This is the change that matters most for anyone in my trade, and I don’t think its significance has landed yet.
Under the Act, a tenant can request permission to keep a pet, and the landlord is required to genuinely consider that request rather than issue a blanket refusal. Blanket ‘no pets’ clauses are no longer the default position they once were.
Think about what that means across a rental market the size of London’s. More dogs and cats living in rented flats and houses. More carpets exposed to pet accidents, moulting, muddy paws and territorial marking. And then, eventually, more checkout inspections where the state of the carpet is the point of dispute.
I’d expect pet related carpet disputes to become one of the most common deposit arguments over the next couple of years. If you’re a tenant with a pet, or a landlord who’s just agreed to one, that’s worth planning for rather than discovering at checkout.
What did not change: the cleaning rules
Here’s the part that trips almost everyone up, and it’s the single most useful thing in this article.
The Renters’ Rights Act did not change the rules on who pays for cleaning. Those still come from the Tenant Fees Act 2019, which has been in force since June 2019 and remains the governing legislation.
Under the Tenant Fees Act, a landlord in England cannot require a tenant to pay for professional cleaning as a blanket condition of the tenancy. A clause saying “the tenant must have the property professionally cleaned at the end of the term” is generally unenforceable as a prohibited payment.
But – and this is where the panic usually comes from – a landlord can still make a deduction from the deposit if the property is returned in a worse condition than it was received, allowing for fair wear and tear. That has always been true and it remains true.
So the position is this. You cannot be forced to hire a professional. You can absolutely be charged if the carpets come back stained, soiled or smelling of pet urine when they didn’t start that way. The law cares about the standard of the result, not the method you used to get there.
Fair wear and tear on carpets: where the line actually sits
This is the phrase every deposit dispute turns on, and almost nobody defines it usefully.
Fair wear and tear means the deterioration that happens through ordinary living. Not through neglect, not through accident, not through damage. The longer someone has lived somewhere, the more of it is reasonable.
| Fair wear and tear (no deduction) | Beyond fair wear and tear (deduction likely) |
| Sun fading near a window | Wine, coffee or food staining |
| Flattened pile in doorways and traffic lanes | Pet urine stains or lingering odour |
| Slight dulling of colour over a two year let | Cigarette burns or scorch marks |
| Furniture indentations | Ink, paint or dye marks |
| Minor thinning on stair nosings | Mud ground deep into the pile through neglect |
| General ageing consistent with the tenancy length | Tears, rucking or pulled seams |
The test an adjudicator applies is roughly this: would a carpet in this condition be expected after a tenant of this length of stay, living normally? A living room carpet with three visible stains after eight months fails that test. Some traffic marking after two and a half years passes it comfortably.
The evidence shift – and why itemised receipts now matter more
This is the part almost nobody is talking about, and it’s genuinely useful for both sides.
Deposit adjudication has tightened considerably. Reporting from the Tenancy Deposit Scheme indicates that adjudicators have increasingly rejected flat fee cleaning charges submitted without itemisation. If a landlord deducts a round sum for a “professional clean” and produces nothing showing what was cleaned, how long it took and what it cost, the tenant tends to win.
Guidance from Propertymark on the Act’s effect on deposits makes the same point from the landlord’s side: take an evidence led approach, and be prepared to justify any proposed deduction with clear, objective evidence.
What that means practically:
If you’re a tenant, an itemised receipt from a professional cleaner is genuinely useful evidence. It shows the date, the property, what was cleaned and what it cost. It demonstrates you took reasonable care.
If you’re a landlord, a vague invoice is close to worthless in adjudication. You need line items, dates and photographs from both check in and check out.
Photographs at check in matter more than ever. Without them, you’re arguing about a carpet’s original condition with nothing to point at.
Every job I do comes with an itemised receipt showing the address, the date, each area cleaned and the cost. That used to be a bookkeeping courtesy. Under the current adjudication climate it’s become one of the more valuable things I hand over.
If you have a pet in a rented property, read this bit twice
Given that pets are now much more likely to be part of a tenancy, this deserves its own section.
Pet urine is not like a spilt drink. It soaks through the pile, through the backing, and into the underlay. What you can see on the surface is roughly a third of the affected area. Within days, bacteria break down the urea and uric acid crystals form, bonding to the fibres at a level no supermarket spray will touch.
The smell fades to you because you live with it. It does not fade to a letting agent walking in with a clipboard, and it certainly doesn’t fade to your dog, who can still detect it and will keep returning to the same spot.
I had a tenant in Wanstead last year who’d been spraying a carpet freshener on the same patch for months, convinced she’d dealt with it. The agent noticed within thirty seconds of walking in. By then it had reached the underlay and the cost of putting it right had roughly tripled.
If your pet has an accident, treat it properly and treat it early. Professional enzyme treatment breaks down the uric acid rather than masking it, and it removes the scent markers that cause repeat accidents in the same place. It’s covered in more detail in our post on whether professional cleaning removes dog and cat urine.
Practical steps, depending on which side you’re on
If you’re a tenant moving out
Compare the carpets honestly against your check in inventory photographs. If there’s visible staining or your carpets clearly don’t match how they started, professional cleaning is almost always cheaper than the deduction. A two bedroom flat costs £160 with us. The average London carpet deduction runs considerably higher than that.
Book one to two days before your checkout inspection, not on the day. Damp carpet reads darker than dry carpet, and an agent who doesn’t know that may flag it unnecessarily. Give it twenty four hours.
Keep the receipt. Keep the photographs.
If you’re a landlord or letting agent
Get proper check in documentation with dated photographs of every carpeted room. Without it you have no baseline to argue from.
If you’re deducting for cleaning, itemise it. A line saying “cleaning – £350” is likely to fail. A breakdown showing rooms, areas and costs is likely to succeed.
Clean carpets between tenancies as a matter of routine rather than as a dispute. Properties with fresh carpets let faster, and the cost of a clean is a fraction of a void week.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Renters’ Rights Act mean I have to pay for professional carpet cleaning?
No. The rules on cleaning charges come from the Tenant Fees Act 2019, which the new Act did not change. A landlord cannot require you to pay for professional cleaning as a blanket tenancy condition. They can still deduct from your deposit if the carpets are returned worse than fair wear and tear allows.
Can my landlord deduct money for dirty carpets in 2026?
Yes, if the condition goes beyond fair wear and tear and they can evidence it. Deductions must be reasonable and supported by check in and check out documentation. Adjudicators have increasingly rejected flat fee cleaning charges that arrive without itemised invoices or photographic evidence.
I have a pet now the rules have changed. Will that affect my deposit?
It can. Pet urine stains and lingering odour are treated as damage beyond fair wear and tear, not as normal use. Moulting and general pet hair usually isn’t. The practical answer is to treat accidents properly and early with enzyme based cleaning, and to have the carpets professionally cleaned before checkout.
What counts as fair wear and tear on a carpet?
Sun fading, flattened pile in doorways, furniture indentations and general ageing consistent with how long you lived there. It does not cover stains, burns, pet urine, tears or heavy soiling from neglect. The longer the tenancy, the more deterioration is considered reasonable.
Should I book carpet cleaning before or after my checkout inspection?
Before, ideally one to two days ahead. Freshly cleaned carpet looks darker while damp and can be misread as dirty during an inspection. Twenty four hours of drying time means it presents at its best. If the inspection is the same day, book the earliest morning slot available.
Does a carpet cleaning receipt actually help in a deposit dispute?
It helps considerably. An itemised receipt showing the date, address, areas cleaned and cost is objective evidence that you returned the property in reasonable condition. It won’t override genuine damage, but in disputes about cleanliness standards it carries real weight with adjudicators.
Where to get the actual legal position
I’ve kept this practical rather than legal, because that’s what I know. For the formal position, go to the source rather than to a cleaning company’s blog – including this one.
GOV.UK holds the current guidance on tenancy deposits, the Tenant Fees Act and the How to Rent guide.
The three government approved deposit schemes – the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, the Deposit Protection Service and mydeposits – all publish free adjudication guidance and dispute statistics.
Propertymark publishes practical guidance for agents and landlords on the Act’s effect on deposit disputes.
Shelter provides free, independent advice for tenants on deposits and disrepair.
This article is general guidance based on practical experience, not legal advice. If you’re in an active dispute, use your deposit scheme’s free adjudication service or get proper advice.
The carpets are the easy part
Most of what changed in May is genuinely complicated, and I don’t envy anyone trying to get their head around periodic tenancies and notice periods.
The carpets, though, are straightforward. Return them roughly as you found them, allowing for normal life having happened, and you’ll be fine. Where that’s not quite the case, a professional clean costs less than the argument – and considerably less than the deduction.
I’ve been cleaning carpets across London for seventeen years, I work with tenants and landlords both, and I issue an itemised receipt on every single job because it turns out to matter more than it used to.
Book your end of tenancy carpet clean Studio flats from £105, one bedroom from £140, two bedroom from £160, three bedroom from £175. Itemised receipt provided for your landlord or agent. Same day availability across London.