Student Lettings

The Renters' Rights Act is one of the most significant changes to the private rented sector in over 30 years. It makes significant changes to the way most tenancies work, including:

• Making tenancies periodic from the outset so that tenants can serve notice at any time;
• Prevent landlords from taking more than a month's rent at any time;
• Abolishes Section 21 notices so that landlords must rely on specific possession grounds;
• Introduces new possession grounds for Section 8 notices;
• Requires landlords to provide tenancies in writing with specific information;
• Bans landlords from taking rent before the tenancy is signed and accepting offers to pay more than the advertised rent;
• Introducing a new landlord database and PRS ombudsman
• Extending the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector. 

How the Renters' Rights Act impacts on student landlords

Student landlords are affected by all of the changes, but they face particular challenges from:

• The ban on fixed terms,
• The abolition of Section 21 and
• The prohibition of rent in advance under the Renters' Rights Act.

This is because they need to be able to reliably let the property at the start of each academic year - something that may become more challenging with rolling tenancies and the abolition of Section 21. If the start of the academic year is missed then the property will either need to be left vacant or it will have to be let to non-students in the future, reducing the number of homes available to let to students.

Larger rent in advance payments are also much more common in student lettings as it helps tenants with no credit history and no guarantor to access housing. 

When will the Renters' Right Act apply to my tenancy?

Most of the Renters' Rights Act will come into force on 1 May 2026. This is known as the commencement date.

Until then, you can continue to offer fixed term assured shorthold tenancies, agree payments of rent in advance, and serve Section 21 notices if you need.

From the commencement date, all existing assured shorthold tenancies will also become periodic assured tenancies and most of the Renters' Rights Act will apply to them.

This means that from 1 May 2026:

• Your tenants can give two month's notice to end the tenancy;
• You may not serve a Section 21 notice;
• You can only increase rent via a Section 13 notice;
• You must respond to requests for pets within 28 days normally and you may not refuse without a good reason.
• Your tenancy agreement must be in writing.

However, existing tenancies do have some different rules that you should be aware of:

• They may still require that rent be paid in advance and in larger instalments than a month at a time;
• You may apply to court following a Section 21 notice served before the commencement datefor up to three months after the commencement date. 
• If your original Assured Shorthold Tenancy was in writing then you will not need to give a periodic tenancy in writing. Instead, you will have to give a leaflet provided by the Government within one month of commencement. 

What is an existing tenancy?

An existing tenancy is any tenancy is entered into (ie it is signed and agreed) before the Renters' Rights Act commences. So any tenancy signed now up until the 30 April 2026 will be an existing tenancy. 

Recognising that the the student sector needs to be able to reliably regain possession each academic year, the Government has introduced a new possession ground (4a) that can be used to replace one set of students with another. 

This ground is quite heavily restricted though, and you will only be able to use it where you meet all of the following conditions:

The ground is available where all of the following conditions are met:

• The property is let as a house in multiple occupation (at least three people, at least two of whom are unrelated). This can be let on a room-only basis or as a joint tenancy.
• The tenancy was signed less than six months before the tenants could occupy the property under the tenancy agreement or it was entered into before the commencement date for the Renters' Rights Act. 
• At the start of the tenancy, all the tenants in the property meet the ‘student test’ (this means they are students or the landlord reasonably believes they will become one during the tenancy).
• The landlord intends to relet the property to another group of students
• The landlord requires possession between 1 June and 30 September.
• The landlord has met the prior notice requirement.

Minimum notice period: Four months

Before the tenancy is entered into, does the landlord need to inform the tenant they may use this ground: Yes. The landlord must notify the tenants in writing before the tenancy is entered into that they may require possession using this ground where –

• At the start of the current tenancy, all tenants met the ‘student test’, and
• The landlord intends to relet to a new group who meet the student test.

This notice will usually be included within the tenancy agreement.

You cannot provide prior notice for tenancies entered into before the commencement date. Instead, you must provide a written notice within a month of the commencement date that provides the same information. After this notice is served, you may use this ground.

My tenancy is not a HMO, can I use the new possession ground?

The new possession ground is only available if the property is occupied by three or more people, at least two of whom aren't related to each other.

In practice, this means that if you have a one or two bedroom property you will have to consider:

• Whether the property can be moved into the general rental market? For example, would young professionals be an attractive option for you.
• Could you let one room to a couple and another to their friend? Provided all three are full time students, this would mean the property is a HMO and could give you access to Ground 4a.

If not then you may have to consider letting the property without access to the student possession ground. 

The NRLA plans to support student landlord members by publishing a suite of documents and guides over the coming weeks. These will include new student tenancy templates, compliance checklists, required information and notices to students. 

These templates will be available exclusively to members shortly after the necessary secondary regulations have been published to help make the Renters' Rights transition as smooth as possible. 

You can select whether you want to receive email updates about the latest documents from the member preferences tab in your account. 

Information for existing students

Assured shorthold tenancies agreed before 1 May 2026 will become periodic assured tenancies on that date.

Provided your tenancy is in writing, you will need to serve:

• An information leaflet on your tenants setting out the key changes to their tenancies; and
• A notice to your tenants informing them you may use the new student possession ground (4A) if they are in a HMO

These must be served by 31 May 2026. You can serve the documents now if you wish.
 

Information leaflet

The Information Leaflet must be the Government's official document. It is available to download from the link below. 

Do not send your tenants a link to this leaflet. You must give the document itself, in hard copy or as a pdf attachment. 

Ground 4a written statement template

The NRLA has prepared a written statement for use with student HMOs where you have not already included a Ground 4a notice in your tenancy agreement. We recommend serving this alongside the Information Sheet.