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Recently, the Labour government fulfilled one of their key manifesto promises and passed the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 into law. The bill aims to reshape the legal framework that governs the relationship between landlord and tenant. But how does that affect us students?
As the bill comes into force, the government has abolished ‘no-fault evictions’, with landlords now being forced to give legally valid reasons for kicking out tenants. These reasons are outlined in the Act, and include: anti-social behaviour by the tenant; the tenant being three months behind on rent; the landlord wanting to sell the property; the death of the tenant or redevelopment of the property. These significantly bolster the housing security of tenants and particularly those who are less able to get housing quickly, including students and young professionals.
Fixed-term tenancies (tenancies which have a set end date) have also been abolished by the Act, and replaced with open-ended, rolling tenancies. This effectively means that tenants can end their tenancy whenever they choose, as long as they give the standard two month’s notice. Landlords, however, can only end the tenancy by providing one of the legally specified reasons under the Act (outlined above), and must follow a formal legal process. Generally speaking, this means that when the first phase of the Act kicks in (1st May 2026) students renting from private landlords will have their contracts moved from fixed-term tenancies to rolling tenancies.
However, it is important to clarify that there are some exceptions to these new rules under the Act, with University-owned Halls and university-owned accommodation being exempt from these new statutory measures, with these forms of accommodation being able to conduct a no-fault eviction if they wish to do so. Furthermore, many purpose-built student accommodation will also be exempt from these rules, and they can continue to offer fixed-term contracts in line with the academic calendar.
Furthermore, the Act goes further in blocking discriminatory practices by landlords, including adding two new classifications for discrimination by landlords, rejecting tenants because they have children or if they claim benefits. Luckily for students, it also enshrines the Decent Homes Standard, meaning that homes must meet a certain standard by being sufficiently warm, have modern and functional facilities, and meeting health and safety standards. In addition to this, these homes must also have no mould. Failure to meet any of these standards could result in the landlord being forced to pay a fine of up to £7,000.
Significantly for students, the Act also caps the amount of rent increases per year at one, forcing tenants to additionally go through a formal process, giving the tenant a formal two months written notice before being able to increase the rent. Landlords are also banned from demanding more than one month’s rent in advance of renting out the property, blocking exorbitant down-payments on properties.
Overall, the Act significantly shifts landlord-tenant relations by providing greater security and benefits to the tenants, particularly giving larger protections to vulnerable groups such as students and those who get frequently discriminated against during the tenancy process. Most importantly, however, it provides a formal legal framework for tenants to reference their own position against, ensuring that courts and tenants know when the landlord is behaving unfairly.
Edited by Phineas Horan
Image: To Let sign on street of houses, by William // CC BY-NC 4.0
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