"There is a degree of goodwill towards the Renters Reform Act and general positivity about its potential impact. However, awareness is patchy."
- Ben Marshall - Ipsos
New polling from Ipsos, conducted among UK adults between 3 and 7 April 2026, finds broad positivity about the Renters' Rights Act, but also significant gaps in awareness of provisions aimed at limiting rent increases and advance payments.
Around 73% of Britons have heard of the Renters' Rights Act, rising to 85% among those currently renting privately. Even so, 1 in 4 Britons (23%) haven't heard of it at all, and a further 22% say they have but know nothing about it. Among private renters, 12% haven't heard of it and 14% say they have but know nothing.
Initial sentiment is cautious. Before reading about the Act's provisions, 36% of respondents said they expected it to have a positive impact, against 10% who expected a negative one. The majority were either lukewarm (22%) or unsure (31%).
Exposure to a summary of the Act's main provisions shifted opinion considerably: 52% then expected a positive impact, with just 11% expecting a negative one. Among private renters, that figure climbed to 69%, with only 4% taking a negative view.
The most widely recognised change remains the abolition of "no-fault" Section 21 evictions, with 71% of the public having heard of it. However, 22% of the general public and 13% of private renters still haven't.
Awareness drops sharply for several other provisions, including those with direct financial implications for renters. At least 1 in 3 members of the public, and at least 1 in 5 private renters, hadn't heard of six separate reforms, among them:
- That landlords will only be able to increase rents once a year (unknown to 33% of the public, 20% of private renters).
- That landlords and agents must list properties at a fixed price and will be banned from encouraging or accepting bidding wars (38% of the public, 24% of private renters).
- That landlords will only be permitted to take one month's rent in advance (38% of the public, 25% of private renters).
The polling also captures persistent concern about housing affordability. A third of Britons describe themselves as very (11%) or fairly (22%) concerned about their ability to meet rent or mortgage payments. Among private renters, 51% are very or fairly concerned, compared with 46% who are not. That broadly mirrors figures from May 2022, when 54% of private renters expressed similar concern.
Confidence in future affordability is low across the board. Three-quarters of the public are not very or not at all confident that renting (73%) or buying (75%) will become more affordable in Britain over the next few years.
That pessimism cuts across political lines: only 30% of 2024 Labour voters are confident the country will build enough affordable new homes, falling to 20% among Conservative voters, 19% among Lib Dems, and 16% among those who voted Reform UK.
Satisfaction with the government's handling of housing is also sliding. Just 17% of the public think Labour is doing a good job at improving housing, down 4 percentage points since May 2025. With no clear alternative emerging, roughly 1 in 4 respondents each identified Reform UK (25%), the Green Party (23%) and the Conservative Party (22%) as better placed than Labour to improve housing.
"This survey further highlights the affordability struggles many Britons, especially renters, continue to face as well as their pessimism about the future," said Ben Marshall, research director at Ipsos in the UK.
"There is a degree of goodwill towards the Renters Reform Act and general positivity about its potential impact. However, awareness is patchy. One in eight private renters haven't heard of it at all, and a fifth or more haven't heard of several provisions to protect them from rent increases.
"If they persist, such gaps in knowledge could have potential political ramifications. Labour was elected to deliver change in housing and has benefited from the solid backing of private renters at the past four general elections. But despite that historic support our recent polling shows this segment of voter is growing more open to considering alternatives and progressive parties such as the Greens."
