Renters' Rights Bill & Purpose-Built Student Accommodation

Key points arising from the House of Lords debate on the Renters' Rights Bill relating to student accommodation include:

• The long awaited PBSA exemption will be provided through secondary legislation (regulations) -- still nothing yet published on that
• It appears that a tenancy of a unit withing PBSA will be deemed to be not an assured tenancy -- but this will be dependent on being "signed up" to the Unipol/ANUK code (so loss of that would mean the tenancy then converts to an assured periodic tenancy)
• We still have no details of what, if any, further conditions might be attached to the PBSA exemption
• Non-PBSA student accommodation will be within the new assured periodic tenancy regime but with its own ground for possession -- the key issue being a student tenant could terminate on 2 months notice, leaving the landlord trying to find a replacement tenant part way through the academic year.

In relation to purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA), despite guidance to the legislation referring to PBSA being excluded from the Bill, the legislation as introduced did not reflect that intention (only university-managed accommodation was provided for).  On 22 April 2025 Baroness Taylor of Stevenage, a minister in the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government noted that in relation to PBSA the government will exempt it through regulations. Baroness Taylor stated that:

'the Government intend that any new purpose-built student accommodation tenancies created after transition will be exempted from the assured tenancy system following transition, as long as the landlord is signed up to a government-approved code of conduct'

'....purpose-built student accommodation, which we will exempt from the assured system through regulations....'

'to be exempted in the future a private PBSA landlord will need to be signed up to the government-approved code of management practice. This code is managed by Unipol, an established organisation.'

Government amendments to the Bill allow for these regulations to be introduced and provide the framework for this.  This is the first detail we have seen from the government as to how the PBSA exemption will be dealt with although still very light on detail. What is now clear is that we will have to wait for secondary legislation to be drafted and published – it will not be an exemption in the primary legislation currently being debated in Parliament.  

In relation to PBSA Baroness Taylor states that the government intends 'the exemption will apply only to private PBSA that is a member of the government-approved code of practice, which sets vigorous standards for the management of property and the relationship between managers and student tenants. If their membership of the code ends for any reason, so does their exemption. There will be no delay in requiring them to provide assured tenancies to new tenants'.

Baroness Taylor notes that although there is an existing power in the Housing Act 1988 to exempt PBSA landlords this will not be used as it is impractical and would require frequent updates to secondary legislation.

During the session, the government also rejected an amendment to exempt private PBSA from private rented sector licensing schemes of local authorities, where the landlord has signed up to a code of practice for managing such accommodation.  In responding the government noted that '[a]lthough codes of practice offer students assurance that a good standard of management is being met by their landlords, they are not tailored to addressing local issues in the way that licence conditions under licensing schemes are'. The response acknowledged that licensing can place a greater burden on landlords with large portfolios, 'such as those operating private purpose-built student accommodation' but referenced the fact local authorities already have discretion to streamline licence application processes and fees for such landlords.

In relation to other forms of student accommodation, much of the discussion and several proposed amendments which did not proceed focussed on possession in relation to students lettings where the properties are HMOs (the Bill includes a possession ground 4A which allows for a landlord to obtain possession where a HMO is let to full-time students and is required for a new group of students in line with the academic year, provided the student tenancy was agreed no more than six months in advance of the date of occupation) and to smaller student properties which are not HMOs and therefore will not benefit from this possession ground as it is currently drafted.  The government noting in response '[w]e have thought very carefully about the design of ground 4A. Limiting it to HMOs captures the bulk of typical students-that is, groups living in a house share. Meanwhile, students who need more security of tenure, such as single parents living with their children, postgraduate couples living together who have put down roots in an area, or families containing students, will be protected'.