Policy paper

Data collection strategy to support monitoring in the private rented sector and the evaluation of the Renters' Rights Act 2025

Published 22 May 2026

Applies to England

Overview

Through the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, the government is taking forward the most significant transformation of the private rented sector (PRS) in a generation. To deliver the ambition of a fairer, safer and more secure PRS, it is important that the department is able to see clearly how the sector is functioning, how reforms are landing in practice, and how renters, landlords, agents and local authorities are experiencing change on the ground. Achieving this requires development in the quality, coherence and transparency of the data we collect, use and share.

This strategy sets out a long-term approach to building that capability, acknowledging the use of existing surveys and new data that will be generated through the PRS Database and PRS Ombudsman. In designing this approach, we are guided by the core principle of identifying and collecting data that is required to:

• understand the problems renters face
• evaluate the impact of legislative changes

In line with these objectives, this approach focuses on the persistent challenges facing the private rented sector, including:

• security of tenure
• affordability
• housing quality
• access and fairness
• the effectiveness of redress and enforcement systems

These domains form the basis of our evidence collection priorities in this strategy.

Purpose 

Our vision is to establish an integrated PRS data system that enables robust, timely and granular insight. Where appropriate, the department will publish PRS data to support transparency and enable government, Parliament, researchers and other stakeholders to better understand how the market is operating and how reforms are shaping behaviours and outcomes.

This work aligns with the department’s wider evaluation strategy and will support the evaluation of the Renters’ Rights Act, with findings published 2 and 5 years after implementation, estimated to be in May 2028 and May 2031. It will guide decision making through clear, accessible and transparent evidence, ensuring that the PRS reforms deliver improved conditions, greater security and fairer outcomes for renters, while supporting responsible landlords and strengthening the overall functioning of the sector.

The data set out in this strategy will allow the department to demonstrate clearer accountability to Parliament, support local authorities with consistent and proportionate reporting, enable better policy refinement, and deliver a high-quality evaluation of the Renters’ Rights Act and associated reforms.

Scope

This strategy is centred on the key stakeholders who shape and experience the private rented sector – tenants, landlords, letting agents, local authorities, and the wider redress and tribunal system – and the data needed to understand their experiences and behaviours. It applies across England, recognising local variation, and aligns with the evaluation period for PRS reforms to ensure we can track how changes are implemented and responded to across the sector. All data collection and analysis within this scope aims to provide clear, timely insight into how reforms affect the people and institutions in the PRS.

Data collection strategy

The collection, analysis and reporting on data will be consistent with the existing approach detailed in the Government Data Quality Framework. The data sources listed will be regularly reviewed. New data collection may be introduced if data gaps are identified. Alongside this, the department will undertake additional work to ensure that consistent definitions and concepts are used across key data sources, including the PRS Database, the English Housing Survey and the English Private Landlord Survey, to support comparability and coherent analysis.

A. Surveys and core evidence

We will continue to make use of the department’s established national surveys, which provide a comprehensive, consistent picture of housing conditions and landlord and tenant experiences across England.

The English Housing Survey (EHS) supports our understanding of affordability, security, housing quality and energy efficiency. By incorporating new indicators linked to the Renters’ Rights Act, the EHS will provide the depth and continuity required to track long-term trends. 

The English Private Landlord Survey supports our understanding of the behaviour, circumstances and decisions of landlords. Responses allow us to understand and anticipate how landlords will adapt to changes in the regulatory landscape.

We have also commissioned Verian to carry out a longitudinal survey of private renters, to help inform, baseline, and monitor the private rented sector reforms. The findings, which will set out the requirement for the work commissioned, will be published in due course.

The ongoing evaluation of the Renters’ Rights Act introduces additional survey data collection, which will be delivered during the evaluation project.

B. Operational, administrative and management data

The department will use administrative data and management information to track the delivery of our policies by our delivery partners.

Local authority operational data

Local authorities, who sit at the point of delivery of many of our reforms, generate information that reflect how reforms are implemented on the ground.

Since mid-2025, the department has been collecting private sector enforcement data from local authorities on a voluntary basis. This includes aggregated data on demand for services, numbers of inspections undertaken, hazards identified, and formal enforcement measures implemented.

We are in the process of transitioning the voluntary data collection to a mandatory one. This will support efforts to build a clearer national picture of enforcement activity and inform policy refinement. Use of the mandatory data collection will be proportionate and aligned with data quality standards.

Ministry of Justice data

Alongside local government data, we will be making use of data from other delivery partners, including the Ministry of Justice’s Mortgage and Landlord Possession Statistics. Systems are also in place for monitoring data relating to rent increase challenges in the Residential Property Tribunal. His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service is ensuring that robust data about private rented sector cases in the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), including applications to challenge a rent increase, can be collected and monitored. These data sources will enable the department to monitor how disputes, possession activity and rent challenges are changing over time, identify pressures emerging in the tribunal system, and assess whether reforms are improving access to justice and fairer outcomes in the private rented sector.

PRS Database

We anticipate that we will begin collecting operational, administrative and management data through the PRS Database during Phase 2 of implementation of the Renters’ Rights Act. Over time, the database has the potential to provide a useful additional source of information on the private rented sector, including the size and distribution of PRS properties, patterns of ownership, selected property characteristics, and some aspects of compliance and enforcement, subject to the final scope of data collected and data quality considerations. In addition, linking property data from the PRS database using UPRNs could allow cross-referencing to other sources of property information such as the English Housing Survey to provide a more holistic picture of a property.

PRS Ombudsman data

The Ombudsman will provide a dedicated redress service for private rented sector tenants. They will publish annual reports to highlight emerging trends and issues across the sector. This will help embed lessons learned from real complaints, promote consistent standards, and set clear expectations for good practice across the sector.

C. Market and external data

To contextualise survey and operational evidence, the department makes use of external datasets, such as the monthly Price Index of Private Rents – published by the Office for National Statistics – and industry publications, that reveal the broader dynamics shaping the PRS. Analyses of rental prices, listings, and transaction data provide the department with a robust evidence base to assess emerging affordability pressures, monitor changes in market availability, and identify underlying patterns of churn.

D. The Renters’ Rights Act Evaluation

In addition to the ongoing monitoring work detailed in this strategy, the department is delivering an evaluation of the Renters’ Rights Act. The project will be delivered over 2 initial phases, running from 2025-2028, and 2028-2031. The first phase of the evaluation will cover the early implementation of the reforms (as per the Renters’ Rights Act implementation roadmap), and has been contracted to Verian, an independent research agency.

The project will involve a process, impact and value for money evaluation:

• the process evaluation will cover how the policy has been delivered, how different stakeholder groups have experienced the policy delivery, and whether behaviours have changed as a result. This will be assessed with a mixed-methods approach, using qualitative and quantitative data
• the impact evaluation will assess the contribution of the reforms to changes in the sector, using a contribution analysis approach, a theory-based method suited for evaluations in complex policy areas without suitable counterfactuals
• the value for money evaluation will capture the Act’s monetisable and non-monetisable outcomes using a Value for Investment approach and break-even analysis

The evaluation will make use of the data sources detailed above, in addition to new surveys and qualitative data collection.

The department has committed to publish the findings from this evaluation 2 and 5 years after implementation, estimated to be in May 2028 and May 2031. 

Reporting and delivery

Our reporting and delivery approach sets out how evidence will be generated and shared at the pace required for effective decision making:

• annual outputs from the EHS will provide stable measures of long-term outcomes
• evaluation reports, 2 and 5 years after the first phase of implementation on 1 May 2026

This tiered approach ensures that the department can monitor ongoing change while also taking stock of long-term trends, enabling rigorous monitoring and evaluation.