The Renters’ Rights Act is a new law that brings the biggest shake-up to private renting in England in almost 40 years.
What is the Renters’ Rights Act?
Approved in October 2025, this new law brings the biggest shake-up to private renting in England in almost 40 years. For students, the changes create a huge impact on the way current student housing operates .
How does it affect me?
Depending on the type of accommodation you live in, the Act can affect everything from tenancy lengths and deposit protection to your eviction rights. These changes have been in force since 1st May 2026.
What are the different types of accommodation?
Private:
Living in a house with 3 or more unrelated students with shared facilities (legally known as an HMO – House in Multiple Occupancy)
Living in a smaller property with 1-2 people (not a HMO)
Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) :
University-owned halls covered by the ANUK/Unipol Code
University-owned halls covered by the Universities UK/Guild HE Code
Private student accommodation buildings covered by the ANUK/Unipol Code
Section21 and Ground 4a
Two fairly indistinct sounding sections of the Renters’ Rights Act, but very important ones, and worth knowing.
Section 21:
The old rule where landlords could evict you without reason, was abolished on 1st May 2026. Landlords now have to prove they have a valid legal reason to evict you.
Ground 4a:
A new rule where, before you sign, a landlord will inform students that they plan to evict them later down the line to re-let the property to new students using a Ground 4a eviction notice, this will be given with 4 months’ notice.
Why do these matter?
All tenancies for HMO and smaller properties are now periodic.
This means that:
Your tenancy will run month-to-month, rather than having a fixed end date.
You will now have the power to terminate your own tenancy with two months’ notice.
Your landlord may tell you (before you sign) that they plan to evict you using a Ground 4a eviction notice so that they can still rent to new students the following year.
Warning: if one tenant serves a two-month eviction notice, all other tenants will also be evicted unless otherwise agreed with the landlord.
Important: If your landlord does not inform you of a Ground 4a eviction, it is on you to serve notice two months prior to you leaving! You must do this the day before your rent is due so that you do not pay more than the 2 months’ rent.
Your landlord will have one month from 1st May 2026 to inform you if they plan to utilise a Ground 4A eviction later in the year
What this means for future tenancy signings?
If the landlord wants to use Ground 4a, you cannot sign your tenancy agreement more than six months before you move in.
For example: if you want to move in on the 1st September, you cannot sign your contract before 1st March – this means no more pressure to sign up for accommodation super early in the year!
Leaving Early
From May 1st, all tenancies for HMO and smaller properties became periodic only, including contracts you are currently in, and ones you have signed for next year – no more fixed term contracts with set end dates, these can go on and on and on until you serve notice to leave, or your landlord issues a Ground 4a eviction notice.
How to serve notice
You must give at least two months’ notice to your landlord in writing via your usual channels of communication – usually email.
Things to consider first:
If one tenant decides to leave the tenancy early, all housemates will be evicted early too, meaning you should all reach an agreement before deciding to go ahead.
Make sure to serve your notice the day before your rent is due so that you don’t end up paying more than the two months’ rent.
If you have a contract that hasn’t commenced yet, you cannot serve notice until the first day of the tenancy agreement starting.
Why might you want to leave early?
Loads of reasons!
If your exams are early in the year, you might want to leave straight after them to save money.
You may live a manageable distance away when you’re not regularly required on campus in your final term, commuting could be cheaper than renting.
Your property may be in disrepair and so you want to get out of it.
You may have disputes with your housemates and want to go your separate ways.
And more – basically, you don’t need any big reason to choose to leave your tenancy, the choice is in your hands to leave whenever best suits you and the rest of your housemates!
Pets
You now have the right to request a pet!
Landlords can now only refuse a pet in HMO and smaller non-HMO properties with a valid reason.
However, you can only place this request after you have moved in, and landlords may use the potential for welfare issues in students’ homes to refuse the request.
Other reasonable refusals may include:
The property being too small to accommodate the pet
Another tenant having allergies/objecting to the pet
The pet is illegal to own or classified as dangerous
If consent is required from a superior landlord and is refused
The pet has behaviour or needs that the property is not suitable for
Note: If you’re thinking of getting a pet, do your research! They can take a lot of work alongside studies, and student accommodation may not always be an appropriate place for them.
If in doubt, we recommend consulting reputable animal welfare or animal rescue charities such as the RSCPA or Animal Care.
Leaving PBSA early
What is PBSA?
Purpose-Built Student Accommodation refers to buildings specifically designed and built to house students or halls of residence. It can be run by the University or private companies (e.g. Unite Students or iQ Student accommodation).
As PBSAs usually operate under a ‘licence agreement’ rather than a standard tenancy, your rights are slightly different!
What’s changed under the Renters’ Rights Act?
Firstly, PBSAs are largely exempt from the changes coming from the Renters’ Rights Act. For example, fixed term contracts (tenancies with an end date) will still be allowed in PBSAs.
However, tenancies will change from ‘Assured Shorthold’ to ‘Common Law’ and different providers of student accommodation may be affected slightly differently and should give out their own guidance.
How does this affect those in PBSAs who want to leave early?
Though there are no changes in the current Renters’ Rights Act, there are proposed changes that may come later, such as:
A right to end your agreement with 4 weeks’ notice if you’re not accepted to your institution or need to withdraw/suspend your studies for health reasons.
New provisions for dealing with the death of an occupant.
If you have any issue with your PBSA accommodation, the best thing to do is speak to our Advice Team as it can vary!
You can reach the LUSU Advice Team by:
Emailing lusuadvice@lancaster.ac.uk
Dropping in at the Students’ Union Welcome Desk in Bowland Main
Deposits
Before the Renters’ Rights Act, your deposit already had to be protected in a government-approved scheme within 30 days of paying it – this is still the case!
How do I get my deposit back?
Before moving out, take photos and videos of the condition you left the property in.
Contact your landlord/letting agency via email to request your deposit back – email means you have a record of your communication.
Once agreed between the landlord/letting agent and yourself, you should receive your deposit back within 10 days.
When can a landlord withhold a deposit?
There are several situations where a landlord may take money from or not return your deposit, for example if:
You owe rent
You’ve damaged the property beyond normal wear and tear
Note: reasonable wear and tear refers to things that naturally need replacing over time such as small scuffs on paintwork or furniture, damage beyond this may include carpet stains or large marks on walls!
You have broken, or lost items from the inventory list
If you think you are being given the wrong amount of money, ask your landlord/letting agent for specific information such as:
How they worked out what to give back to you
What they are taking the money for
Which deposit protection scheme your deposit is with
If agreements still can’t be met, you can contact the Advice team or the designated resolution service for your tenancy deposit protection scheme for specific support as each situation may need different advice.
Keep in mind that some deposit protection schemes only give a 3-month window to access their dispute resolution service, so it’s important to act quickly once your tenancy has ended!