Renters’ Rights Act raises uncertainty for student accommodation

Nothing like a level playing field.

Am I the only (ex) student landlord that is much more concerned about students leaving after 8 or 9 months or less than the abolition of fixed term tenancies? In the 20 years I have rented to 100s of students not once has any tenant asked to stay beyond August. Every year at least one student will ask to terminate early. The ability to terminate with 2 months notice is the sole reason we have sold and converted all our student HMOs. The Government could have created protected fixed term tenancies for students who could then choose a standard or student tenancy. Under RRA choice for students will reduce as they are driven towards PBSA which surely must be part of the game plan.

Up until now students with a fixed term expiring in June or July could still cause problems by staying on. As we all know the two months for s21 to kick in did not mean the tenant would leave after two months.
There is a new Ground 4A but even then the landlord will need to go to court if the tenants do not leave. The real problem IMHO is that tenants may leave mid-term and it can be hard to re-let.
I used to rent a house to students and although they only wanted it for 10 months I got them to take it for 12 with the last two months rent-free. This meant they had the Council Tax exemption. That is impossible now and the Tenant Fees Act made it almsot impossible as you cannot front load rent.

I think there is a way, Ian. If you work out what you want to achieve over the 12 month period, then assume that the students will only occupy for 9 months, then £/9 equals the monthly rent to charge over the 12 months with a discount for the tenant not occupying during the summer.
We have traditionally offered a 50% discount in July and August if the tenants didn’t occupy the property. I can’t see anyone objecting to the tenant receiving a discount on the rent!
My view is that students will likely give notice and leave at the end of May which means that our contracts will in future (from 2027) start on 1 June with the assumption that the previous group will leave in May. Discounts will have to be applied for June, July and August.
I don’t see how we can sign the new contracts until the old group has given us notice. Therefore, we will give notice before the end of February (to end at the end of June) in the expectation that the group will counter by giving 2 months notice that they want to go at the end of May. It will be a bonus if they stay until the end of June.
It’s a complete mess but don’t forget that the Conservatives were going to do exactly the same thing! And what a disgrace that PBSA landlords CAN have a fixed term contract!

Reply to the comment left by Martin Thomas at 29/04/2026 – 17:41
Thank you for sharing your strategy. I am hoping other student LK will lob in their thinking about how they will respond to RRA. My fear is that raising rents to cover a potential shortfall will put rents up to a level that will be on a par with PBSA with all the extra amenities on offer, and those that choose private housing, will be incentivised to leave earlier on cost grounds

This doesn’t help all students…..

I’ve housed NHS Healthcare students (the trainee nurses, physios, radiologists, paramedics, opticians) coming out of first year halls for 20 years.

They do 3 months academic study followed by 3 months on placement to hone their newly acquired academic skills. The academic side usually finishes in May and the students normally get a very short summer break as their work placements continue beyond the academic calendar. They have to achieve so many patient contact hours before they’re signed off for that course year. Strikes and paramedic queues to off-load their patients to A&E have frequently meant no summer break at all as the non-contact time has to be made up.

For this reason, and the two-year duration of the course after halls, I’ve successfully rented out two 4-bed houses close to their mock-up academic/study location and offered two-year tenancies so that these students could stay put to see out the completion of their NHS degree courses without any stress of moving during a short summer vacation while on work placement often up to 50 miles away. Any call-outs have always been managed by me super-quick.

Noteworthy: On placement the students complete the same12 hour shifts as their mentors, whether it’s night or day. They travel in their own time to start their shift training of no fixed end-time. They have to stay til hand-over is complete. A 16-hour working day is the norm for them.

My 4-bed student houses have been perfect for 20 years: close to the academic study base, customised with huge food prep facilities (individual cupboards + generous fridge & freezer space), black-out blinds & a separate lounge kept for their communal enjoyment. It’s all worked fine: the students easily find their friendship groups on these courses in their first year in halls and stay committed to their graduation.

These same hard-working vocational students are ill-suited to the PBSA offerings. Many are mature students having explored other careers which didn’t deliver job satisfaction…… they’re committed to restarting their career and they make excellent tenants. As do the others who always knew they wanted a career in a hospital setting.

PBSA accommodation doesn’t serve these students well – if at all. The youthful clubby-hub life-style promoted by the shareholders (chasing big buck returns) isn’t usually what healthcare students are looking for after a 16 hour end-to-end shift. Nor is the cost, especially after a career re-start. Whether they’ll ever get any rest or sleep sharing a mult-bed flat floor isn’t known when they move in. What about all the visitors and co-renters’ hosting it as ‘Party Central’? As for food provisions for their shifts…. will they have enough space to make and store it? They’ll most likely have to starve during their placements.

Anyway…. it’s all over for me now. On top of all the above, the NHS has a freeze on recruitment this year meaning that no one graduating this year will have an NHS job to start. It might be the same next year, so there’s no rush to commit to a course atm.

I’ve just sold one of the NHS student houses. What a crying shame for them to lose it!

But it wouldn’t have worked for non-NHS students who’d want to quit in May leaving me with an un-occupied house all summer long. The insurance just wouldn’t fit with that and re-letting also wouldn’t work out with the new tenant rights act.

I’m now selling my second dedicated NHS-student let. I understand why students are not signing up for courses that used to guarantee a career in the NHS…. but really? By the time the NHS finds the money and enough willing staff mentors to recruit again, there will only be the PBSA raketeering accommodation available – and only to those who can afford to get into debt will go for it.

When recruitment returns, I wonder what excuse the government will create for the non-uptake of study places???

Labour don’t like educated people. They have shown this by targeting private schools.

Now, they want student HMOs to be available for a different group of occupants. Those hotels won’t empty themselves.

Reply to the comment left by Martin Thomas at 29/04/2026 – 17:41
“I can’t see anyone objecting to the tenant receiving a discount on the rent!”

Actually its a breach of the Tenant Fees Act.

Students are facing a lot more than uncertainty. All the student landlords I know are giving it up.

Reply to the comment left by Marlena Topple at 29/04/2026 – 13:53
I think you have hit the nail on the head. In the 27 years I have been doing this I have never had an issue getting a property back in August and I have had thousands of students!
The issue now will be them leaving early and me being left with properties empty for say four months. Council tax. Lots of rent. Potential damage. Insurance issues. Those costs will pile up.
Student LL will pull out. That will reduce supply and increase rents. There is no where near enough PBSA to pick up the slack.
I predict more students staying at home and Unis reducing their cohort.
Well done Labour.