Renter’s Right Act Receives Royal Assent. How and When Will This Impact Student Accommodation?

When will the Act come into force?

Due to the impact of the Act, its various provisions will be phased in over a period of time and there are powers within it for Ministers to implement more detailed proposals on aspects of it as further consultations take place.

Even in the final stages of the Act, the Government did not give any timetable for its implementation.  However, it is now clear that today’s student tenants (studying across 2025/26) and new tenants signing up for the 2026/27 academic year will see their tenure status change and it is estimated that this change will come into effect between April and June 2026.

Exemptions to the Act

As you may already be aware there are a few specific exemptions mentioned within the Act which are primarily aimed at student accommodation which are summarised below.

Lettings to Students by Specified Educational Institutions

The existing exemption from the assured tenancy regime for student lettings by specified educational institutions such as universities will remain in place.

Whilst the Government in their explanatory notes state that Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (“PBSA”) will be exempt from the Act, this is not correct unless the accommodation is being let out by specified educational institutions. However, amendments have now been introduced which will exclude PBSA from the Act so long as the Landlord is a member of recognised code of practice.

House in Multiple Occupation

There is an exemption in the legislation that allows landlords to regain possession of properties let to students in line with the academic calendar but only where the property is a house with three or more bedrooms.

As a result of these changes, a wider range of student lettings will, going forward, fall outside the restrictions on regaining possession found in the 1988 Act and so be by extension, outside the key changes being introduced by the Act.

Whilst the House of Lords voted in favour of an amendment to the Bill which would allow the HMO exemption to also cover one and two-bedroom student properties, this was pushed back on in the Commons and did not end up in the final version of the Act.

What about existing student tenancies?

However, as the exemptions will not help landlords who have existing student ASTs, which will automatically convert to periodic assured tenancies when the new provisions take effect,  it is worth setting out how landlords will look to regain possession and the possible consequences for the student accommodation market which may arise as a result of these changes.

To regain possession going forward, landlords will need to rely on one of the grounds for possession set out in the 1988 Act as amended by the Act. Additionally, a new Ground 4A will be introduced to specifically deal with student accommodation. Ground 4A will allow landlords to regain possession of properties let to full-time students, where the property is needed for a new group of students in line with the academic year.

Following implementation of the Act, landlords will have to notify tenants within the first 30 days  of their intention to use ground 4A. After this transitional provision, landlords will have to notify tenants of their intention to use ground 4A at the time of signing the contract.

However, for those students who are currently living in smaller non-HMO properties, ground 4A cannot be used,  so once tenure reform has taken place and the time period for issuing S21 notices has expired, tenants in this kind of property can remain as long as they wish until they give 2 months’ notice to leave. Landlords letting these smaller houses and flats may well find that in time they are housing non-students.

Several attempts were made during the discussion of the Act to extend ground 4A to all properties occupied by students, but the Government firmly rejected that approach.

Baroness Taylor of Stevenage made the Government’s position clear on 15 October 2025:

The Government recognise that the new tenancy system will have an impact on the way the student market operates. While we believe the ground covers the majority of the market, there is no one-size-fits-all solution that covers all circumstances. We think it is reasonable that the ground will apply to full-time students in larger house-share situations. Removing this restriction could lead to students who need more security of tenure – such as single parents living with their children or postgraduate couples living together who have put down roots in the area – being evicted more regularly.

So, by their response it suggests that the Government expects that some property previously occupied by students is likely to remain occupied and this stock will therefore leave the student market and enter the general rental market.

What do Education Providers need to be aware of?

Many student landlords have raised concerns about the Act’s impact on the student housing market, particularly given the short letting window between academic cycles and the fact that fixed-term contracts are currently standard practice reflecting students’ tendency to vacate during summer breaks.

The NRLA has warned that “If landlords are not confident they can regain possession in time for the next academic year, many will stop letting to students altogether. The result will be fewer homes, higher competition, increased rents, and less choice for students.”

Education Providers will therefore need to be aware of the changes in the Student Accommodation Market so that they can assist and advice students who may be having difficulty finding suitable accommodation or consider whether they have sufficient amounts of PBSA to offer to those students who need it or if this is an area in which further investment is needed. Educational institutions and students’ unions would be wise to try to monitor that shift and any loss of this accommodation to determine its effect on admissions.

Forbes’ Housing, Property and Education teams will continue to pay attention to the status of the Renters Right Act and will provide further updates as and when are needed.