Following the introduction of the first phase of the Renters’ Rights Act at the start of this month, agents across England are being urged to review all published consumer information, legal statements and terms and conditions available on their websites.

The Renters’ Rights Act impact on agents in England represents one of the most significant changes to rental legislation in over three decades and has required substantial preparation to achieve compliance. However, in some cases, outdated information remains accessible or indexed in search engine results due to the way certain content management systems store and surface legacy pages.

While updated content may be live on main website pages within menus and navigation structures, older material can still appear in search results. This creates a risk that incorrect or inconsistent information remains publicly accessible, potentially leaving agents exposed to compliance issues under the new framework.

The Renters’ Rights Act impact on agents also raises issues around legacy content held outside of main website pages. In some cases, outdated information can remain within older PDF files stored on web servers. These files may still be accessible or indexed by search engines even if they are no longer linked through a live site structure.

This creates a requirement for agencies to review and either delete or properly restrict access to any obsolete documents to ensure they are no longer publicly available. The Renters’ Rights Act impact on agents is therefore not limited to live webpages, but also extends to archived or unmanaged content that can still be surfaced externally.

There is also a risk that some agencies continue to hold documents referencing abolished or changed tenancy concepts such as Section 21 or fixed-term tenancies in a way that implies they remain current. If left online or indexed, this can lead to inconsistency in information available to clients and may result in confusion or complaints.

Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark, commented: “The preparation on the lead up to phase one of the Renters’ Rights Act coming into force across England has been incredible. It has required immense dedication and planning to ensure the new legislation has been smoothly implemented, and that agents can fully support landlords and tenants across the transformation.

“It now remains essential that agencies perform a full set of ‘safety net’ checks on all available information across all communication channels to ensure compliance.

“A key area of concern is the complexities of how many website content management systems work, and the fact that outdated information remains live and accessible in search engine results.

“To ensure compliance, it is important to fully audit website content and remove not only redundant information on potential physical webpages, but also previous linked PDF files, for example, which now contain either wrong or misleading information, inaccurate terms and conditions and outdated consumer advice.”