The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 and student tenancies

Student landlords are about to experience one of the most significant policy shocks in decades as the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (RRA) hits them hardest. 

The Act isn’t just another tweak to the system. It rewrites the foundations of private renting in England. For most buy-to-let landlords the loss of Section 21 and the shift from fixed-term ASTs to open-ended periodic tenancies is a major adjustment. For student landlords, it’s more like a full-scale operational upheaval.

The student market has always been a separate ecosystem. It works to a tight academic calendar cycle and relies heavily on fixed terms. It’s dependent on predictable tenant turnover each summer ready for a new intake in the autumn. 

The RRA dismantles the legal framework that made that model a fairly straightforward process. Cashflow, rights of possession, and contract structure all change under the new legislation. If landlords don’t adapt early on, they will run into major issues pretty fast — especially, this will occur when trying to manage changeovers between student cohorts.

This article attempts to give a straightforward explanation of what’s changing, why it matters to student landlords, and what landlords need to do before the next intake arrives.

Here are the main changes

Fixed-term ASTs are being abolished from 1 May 2026. All new student lets will be open-ended periodic tenancies so student landlords can no longer rely on a 12-month term to guarantee the property comes back in time for the next academic year.

Section 21 is also gone which means the familiar “no-fault” eviction route disappears. Every re-possession now requires a statutory ground which usually means a long-drawn-out court process. Some grounds exist for student accommodation, but they are quite narrow and require documentary evidence, not opinion, hearsay or assumptions.

Traditionally, student landlords take in rent payments in advance when students receive their grant monies. Now under the RRA there are limits on advance rent. Termly or annual upfront payments — a previously staple diet for private student markets — will be restricted. Monthly payments will increasingly become the default. 

The RRA aligns much of the private rented sector with Awaab’s Law and the Decent Homes Standard, higher regulatory and repair obligations accompanied by enhanced enforcement powers. Student HMOs are already regulated under the Housing Act 2004, but the new rules increase the risk if landlords don’t act quickly on repairs or fail to document them properly.

The paperwork burden will undoubtedly increase. Landlords must provide a detailed pre-tenancy statement (mandatory pre-tenancy information) covering the essential terms, charges, policies and conditions. Missing or flawed paperwork will risk enforcement action and may affect possession rights.

Those are the essentials — but for student landlords, the implications run much deeper – see the government’s Guide to the Renters’ Rights Act 2025.

Why are student landlords hit hardest?

The academic cycles in England don’t align with open-ended tenancies. The entire student rentals system relies quite predictability on everyone moving in in September, everyone leaving early the following summer. Landlords use the summer months to refurbish (we know how students are) and get ready to re-let. 

The removal of the fixed terms means tenants can stay on over the summer period, or indeed, indefinitely if they so decided to, that is unless the landlord can obtain possession using statutory grounds. It creates horrendous timing risks for student changeovers.

Many student landlords currently take rent termly payments upfront or otherwise collect a large upfront payment – before the student fritters their grant money away in the student bar or pub - to manage the part-time income cycles of students. 

The RRA makes such a model difficult if not impossible. Monthly payments will become unavoidable, so cashflow planning must change on the part of the landlord and the student.

Again, traditionally, students in shared student houses have a joint tenancy which has worked very well for all concerned. The system works well as the tenancy term ends cleanly for the whole group. But a periodic tenancy means one tenant leaving doesn’t break the agreement unless all the tenants surrender. Landlords will need to be much more robust with guarantor agreements and clear documentation. Joint tenancies will become riskier and harder to manage.

In the instances when it becomes necessary (hopefully not too common), to legally regain possession of the property for a new cohort, landlords will have to rely on grounds tied to re-letting, antisocial behaviour, substantial rent arrears, or breach of contract. This is manageable but far from trouble free given the way the English courts currently are in crisis.

Three big problems for student landlords 

Getting a vacant property back in time for refurbs and the new academic year without fixed terms and without Section 21, landlords must rely on the new Section 8 statutory grounds to regain possession. 

Thankfully, there are some grounds designed to help student landlords, but they require: Clear pre-tenancy wording, evidence that the property is genuinely needed for another cohort and correctly served notices in compliance with the paperwork rules. Not following the rules risks missing the next student re-letting window.

Monthly rent payments are fine but consider the extra administration time involved unless all the payments can be arranged by standing order. Late payments and arrears build ups are going to create cash flow problems for student landlords.

Expenses like mortgages, insurance and maintenance which tend to cluster around the summer turnover period are all affected. Termly payments helped student landlords plan their businesses, aligning them with the academic calendar. Now monthly payment instalments spread income more thinly and less predictably. 

The RRA strengthens landlords’ repair obligations while at the same time potentially reducing the summertime voids when work can be carried out easily. Combined with the extension of Awaab’s Law-style time limits, it puts student HMO landlords under more scrutiny and pressure, especially if there are signs of damp and mould, which must be addressed quickly. Response times must be logged, and councils are given greater enforcement powers.

Students are often aware of the law, vocal and organised, so complaints can move fast. Any landlord without a proper maintenance reporting system is asking for trouble. Not that any of this is arguing for lower standards, standards are important, it’s to point out the extra work that this will impose on student landlords.

What can landlords do to respond?

As the 1^st of May 2026 approaches (Commencement Day), the landlord will need to update all tenancy documents to comply. Old AST tenancy agreements will no longer be fit for purpose. Landlords will need a compliant periodic tenancy agreement, in time for the next cohort, with a pre-tenancy statement, clear rent frequency, clear rules for utilities, bills and usage, policies for inspections, repairs and communications and clauses supporting cohort changeovers – see the notes below.

A formal “changeover plan” in writing is going to be essential. This is a key operational model which will ensure a smooth transition from one cohort to the next each summer. The plan should include deadline dates, required conditions, cleaning standards, and evidence of the need to regain possession.

Rent payments will need to be switched to monthly by default, even if students offer longer payments landlords should prepare for receiving monthly rents, ideally by standing order. In this regard, guarantors should be informed of the arrangements. 

Guarantor agreements need to be strengthened as joint tenancies under a periodic structure pose an increased risk. A properly drafted guarantor form – landlords should get expert legal advice here - linked clearly to all ongoing obligations, is now essential. Keep guarantors informed of all changes, arrears etc at all times.

Landlords must tighten maintenance schedules and compliance documentation procedures and have a repair response policy. Dated records of all instances of repairs, reports along with photographic evidence and invoices. Councils will expect written evidence that reports are properly responded to, and work carried out satisfactorily.

Landlords should keep open a channel of communication with the students along with regular visits and inspections. Remind students early on when their vacating the property deadline is approaching. Students may assume that their tenancies continue to work like they always did. Landlords need to clarify what the law now requires and what their responsibilities are. 

What landlords need to understand:

Landlords won’t get the property back automatically in July unless they follow a statutory route. They can’t rely on a large upfront payment to cushion their cashflow, they can’t assume tenants will leave simply because the academic year is over and they can’t work without thorough paperwork — missing documents undermine any possession claims.

Here's are a couple of sample clauses, the sort of clause that will be essential in the new RRA tenancy agreements – not to be relied on without expert legal advice:

The Tenant acknowledges that this Student Rental Property is used for student accommodation and is re-let to a new cohort of students each academic year. The Landlord may seek possession of the Property at the end of the academic cycle to prepare the Property for occupation by the next cohort. The tenant agrees to cooperate with reasonable pre-end-of-year inspections, viewings and preparations for re-letting, provided that at least 24 hours’ notice is given. This clause does not limit the tenant’s statutory rights under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, and any possession will be sought only in accordance with the statutory grounds and notice procedures prescribed by the Act.

An optional inspection requirement - The tenant agrees to allow the Landlord access for regular inspections (3 monthly) and end-of-year inspections during the final two months of the academic cycle, on not less than 24 hours’ notice, for the purpose of scheduling cleaning, repairs, and compliance works necessary for re-occupation by incoming tenants.

And an example guarantor clause, not to be used without expert legal advice:

The Guarantor agrees to guarantee the Tenant’s liabilities under this periodic tenancy, including all variations lawfully made for the duration of the tenancy until it is lawfully ended. The guarantee applies jointly and severally where the tenancy is a joint tenancy.

Note, a guarantor agreement requires expert legal drafting if it is to stand up in a court of law.

Here is a brief summary of the new law:

Fixed–terms - While Student Halls (SH) and Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) can still have fixed terms, HMOs and Private Rentals (PR) can’t.

Leaving early - In Student Halls and PBSSA students can’t leave early, while in HMOs and Private Rentals they can leave with 2 months’ notice.

Timing of lease grant - There are restrictions on the timing of when a lease is granted for HMOs (not more than six months before occupation if the student possession ground is to be relied on) but no restrictions for the other types.

Possession ground - There is a specific ground for possession for HMOs (ground 4a)* which does not apply to student halls and PBSAs, or private rentals.

Rent upfront – Student Halls and PBSAs can request multiple months’ rent in advance, while HMOs and Private Rentals cannot.

*Ground 4a – applies to properties rented to students for occupation by new students. An HMO that is let to full-time students and is required for a new group of students in line with the academic year. Cannot be used if the tenancy was agreed more than 6 months in advance of the tenancy starting (i.e. the tenant moving in). This ground requires four (4) months’ notice.

It's not all bad news!

It sounds bad when you think about all the extra work involved, but student demand remains strong, there’s a shortage of supply and the PRS will still house a massive proportion of students. For those landlords who get their act together, the well-organised landlords who are willing to work at this, the future could be bright!

[Main image credit: George Milton]