Will Renter’s Rights Act affect student summer retainers and access?

The Renters’ Rights Act does not give students a separate right to demand keys. The crucial issue is the tenancy start date.

If the tenancy starts in July and rent is payable from then, the tenant would normally be entitled to access at the agreed 50% rent. You could not simply increase it to full rent because they requested a key, unless the agreement clearly and lawfully provides for this and both parties have agreed.

If the tenancy does not start until September, there should be no right to occupy beforehand. However, charging a July and August “retainer” without granting occupation is now legally risky: government guidance says rent should be spread equally across the tenancy, only permitted payments may be charged, and pre-tenancy rent is generally limited to one month. The tenancy agreement should therefore be professionally reviewed.

I had five student HMOs operating for the best part of twenty years. The rents and occupation of the properties were based on 51 weeks, this was the general principle of the entire student HMO market in the area. (Longer maintenance periods resulted in delayed start dates on an ad hoc basis).

I was aware other areas operated with no occupation or rents payable over the summer months and was under the impression that those markets had proportionally higher rent levels to reflect the shorter tenancy term.

I sold all my student HMOs so am not fully conversant with the current market under RRA but this 50% arrangement sounds like a disaster waiting to happen now and two months are not needed for changeover work on each property every year although I appreciate it would avoid having to work under pressure as is the case with a basic changeover of one week with delayed start dates on those properties that specifically need a longer window for additional work to be carried out.

The problem now is what was a way of giving the students a saving over the summer will now be seen as denying them something they have paid money for in the brave new world all politicians want the PRS to exist in.

We don’t know when your student tenants signed up or which contract they signed ?
Pre 1st of May 2026 or post 1st of May 2026 and therefore a periodic tenancy under the new RRA terms.
All tenants can now give 2 months notice to leave
Did you sent the RRA Information sheet to all the student tenants via email to prove they have received it ?
We are now in a whole new world of the RRA and periodic tenancies.
You may well need to charge Full rent for the whole year going forward
Whatever the market rent maybe.
PS tenants can challenge this Rent once they move in.

If they’re paying rent under an APT, even a peppercorn, of course they should be allowed access. Why would you expect them to pay something for nothing? It’s these sort of stories that really harm the PRS, it’d be painted as greedy landlord exploits students. Difficult to see it any other way imo 🤷‍♂️. And you’ll be merrily using their power while renovating?

You could leave a one month void for maintenance then charge full rent – same rental income overall. But of course you’ll be saddled with council tax, gas, electricity, water etc. 🤔

I think you’ve been very lucky to get away with that so far. I’m 11 months running from 1/9 through to 31/7 but I’m expecting this coming year to be a tad tricky – I know many of mine will want to leave a lot earlier so I’m sort of relying on their notorious disorganisation as they need to give me clear 2 months notice (2 months notice in the middle of May still takes them to end July).
The other thing that will be a headache is the lead times around viewings and signing up new students. We normally market in October and many contacts agreed before the New year. The new 6 month rule will truly muck that up.
And now, and more, and more. Just a classic case of ” let’s take a well oiled machine and completely break it !!”
Fun times ahead.

Reply to the comment left by Grumpy Doug at 28/07/2026 – 11:16
Well said Grumpy. But do remember only one tenant has to give notice (?) – so you only need one savvy student to act.

Only option I can see is to bring the start of the rental year forward to 1 June…and hope they still want to be there in May.

I’ve got 4 student HMOs (19 beds) – all a bit of a worry to say the least.

If you dont allow access to the property, how can your charge be rent? The answer is it cant be and it cant be anything else either as the Tenant Fees Act forbids it. Sadly, this practice became illegal in 2019 when the TFA came in, so you may want to consider just having a 12 month tenancy instead of a 10.

I’m no expert, although I do let one HMO to students myself, but as soon as the tenancy commences, surely the named tenants should have access to the keys? I’m not sure it would be legal to include a clause in the contract that states they’re not allowed in for 2 months but have to pay anyway – I’m not sure how that’s justifiable either!? Understand you don’t want to be responsible for council tax.
I think, in light of the RRA, July/ August may no longer be maintenance months. I wonder if the norm will be contract start August and students give notice to leave end of May…. leaving June/ July as maintenance months ( assuming they haven’t given notice earlier when you serve them 4 months!). Presumably rents will rise to offset the uncertainty… that’s all speculation of course and I hope to adapt and evolve accordingly! Maybe 9 or 10 months is the best one can hope for…

Reply to the comment left by Neil P at 28/07/2026 – 10:47
So I’ve been painted as harming the PRS. Perhaps I wasn’t clear enough and contributors have misunderstood what I said.
The contract was signed in January 2026 and the monthly rent is the same from the start date of 1 July – it’s the full rent. What I have done for the past 46 years is recognise that students don’t usually want to be in the university town over the summer so I offer them a discount if they don’t want to occupy the property.
What on earth could be objectionable about offering a discount?
Quite a few landlords charge 12 months rent (under the old system). We end up charging 11 months rent after the discount so the students end up paying less. Our rents are around the average so the tenants gain by the discount offer.
However, if someone insists on having a key, then I would deem them to be able to occupy the property at their discretion so full rent is payable.
This year, we have 2 students out of 39 that want to be in town. Often, that number is ‘nil’.
I agree that from next year, things are going to get a lot more complicated – some students will want to stay until 30 June while others will want to leave straight after their exams finish in May. We are in the process of devising our new poilicies to cope with the potential for lost rent – that probably means hiking the rents to cover the shortfall and taking the risk that the tenant moves in and later objects to the increased rent although if a completely new group moves in, can they subsequently object to the rent they voluntarily signed up for?

Reply to the comment left by Martin Thomas at 10:12
You should check this practice with a specialist landlord and tenant solicitor so that you have some legal cover in case of a challenge. It is my assumption that once the tenants hand you the keys and have no access to the property, then the tenancy should end. A new tenancy could begin after the Summer. You cant charge them anything in between if youve taken the keys. Alternatively you charge them full rent for the 12 months an they keep the keys.
When I was a student landlord, most of my tenants either had Summer jobs locally, exam resits it student placements that meant they needed to stay. We quickly moved to 12 month contracts.