As thousands of students prepare to begin university and move into new accommodation, letting agents must have a clear understanding of how the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 has changed the student market so they can effectively support landlords and tenants. Planning is also beginning for the 2027-28 academic year, making the rules and timelines for regaining possession especially important.
The first phase of the Act took effect in England on 1 May 2026. It ended Section 21 evictions and moved most private renters, including many students renting from private landlords, onto assured periodic tenancies.
Propertymark’s student rental market guide explains what the changes mean for agents and how to prepare for the risks created by the loss of fixed-term tenancies.
Student tenancies are no longer tied to the academic year
Assured periodic tenancies do not have a fixed end date. They continue until the tenant gives notice or the landlord issues a valid possession ground. Tenants can give notice at any point. The tenancy agreement can require no more than two months’ notice, although the landlord and tenant could agree to a shorter period in writing. In a joint tenancy, notice from one tenant will usually end the tenancy for everyone.
This creates challenges for the traditional student lettings cycle. A tenant could leave after their exams or partway through the academic year, creating a void that may be difficult to fill. Agents should ensure landlords understand this risk when planning for September 2027.
Agreed tenant swaps remain possible where the landlord and the outgoing, incoming and remaining tenants consent.
Ground 4A is a mandatory possession ground designed to allow qualifying student Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) to be made available to a new group of students for the following academic year.
An HMO normally has at least three unrelated tenants who share facilities such as a kitchen, bathroom, or toilet. For a landlord to rely on Ground 4A:
the property must be an HMO
it must be let to full-time students
the landlord must intend to let it to another group of full-time students
the landlord must give the tenants written notice before the tenancy begins that Ground 4A may be used
the tenancy must not have been agreed more than six months before it started.
For a joint tenancy, all the tenants must be full-time students when the tenancy is granted, or the landlord must reasonably believe they will become full-time students during the tenancy. Where rooms are let under individual agreements, Ground 4A can only be used against tenants who meet the student criteria.
Temporary arrangements were introduced to protect the student lettings cycle when the new tenancy system began. For tenancies that started before 1 May 2026, landlords were allowed to serve a Ground 4A notice between 1 May and 31 July 2026 with two months’ notice instead of four months.
Notices validly served during that period may still support possession between 1 June and 30 September 2026. However, any new Ground 4A notice must follow the standard four-month requirement.
In practice, landlords who did not use the transitional arrangements are unlikely to obtain possession under Ground 4A during the remaining 2026 window. Agents should therefore review affected cases carefully and plan for summer 2027. Another possession ground may be available depending on the circumstances, but landlords should not assume that Ground 4A can be used outside its specific conditions.
Under the standard rules, landlords must give at least four months’ notice. The date on which possession is required must fall between 1 June and 30 September, inclusive.
This means the timeline must be planned carefully. For example, if possession is required on 1 June 2027, notice must be given by 1 February 2027. If possession is required later in the permitted period, the notice must still provide at least four clear months.
Agents should also remember the six-month restriction on agreeing the tenancy. If a landlord expects to rely on Ground 4A at the end of the tenancy, an agreement for students moving in during September 2027 must not be concluded more than six months before its start date.
Our Renters’ Rights Act toolkit brings together guides, fact sheets, FAQs, templates, webinars and training to help members manage student tenancies and the wider reforms with confidence.
The toolkit breaks down the Act and helps you to inform your landlords and tenants. It includes guidance, training, fact sheets, FAQs, and resources to help you prepare for the changes.
Different rules apply to halls and purpose-built accommodation
Not every student will have an assured periodic tenancy. Students in university-run halls or other university accommodation will usually have a licence or common law tenancy, so the new assured tenancy rules will generally not apply.
Privately operated Purpose-Built Student Accommodation can also remain outside the assured periodic tenancy regime where the provider belongs to and follows an approved code of practice. These agreements may therefore continue for a fixed period, commonly linked to the academic year.
Landlords and agents cannot require or accept rent before the tenancy agreement has been entered into. Once the agreement has been signed, they can require up to one month’s rent before the tenancy starts.
A tenant may choose to make additional payments during the tenancy, but this must be voluntary and must not be made a condition of securing the property.
The restriction can particularly affect international students who do not have a UK-based guarantor and previously offered several months’ rent in advance. Agents should review their referencing processes and help landlords consider appropriate guarantor services or insurance products without creating unlawful barriers.
Support for members
Propertymark provides practical guidance, webinars, training, and resources to help agents stay up to date, confidently navigate legislative change, and maintain compliance in the fast-moving property sector.
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