Joint tenancies
The changes to the notice period protocol also have a knock-on effect on how joint tenancies operate.
“Before the Renters’ Rights Act, a group would sign a joint tenancy and take on joint and several liability for the whole rent,” said Ms Smith. “That was the landlord’s protection. If one student moved out during the year, the others had a reason to find a replacement, because they stayed liable for the rent until the end of the fixed term.
“That protection has gone, along with the abolition of fixed terms. If a student in a joint tenancy wants to leave and serves a notice to quit, they not only bring the tenancy to an end for themselves, but they also bring it to an end for all the other joint tenants at the same time.”
However, if some tenants wish to stay in the property, it’s possible to create a new tenancy agreement.
Serving eviction notices
Section 21 “no fault” evictions have been abolished, making it more difficult for landlords to gain control of their properties.
For those letting houses in multiple occupation (HMO) to students – classified as having three or more students from different households living in the property, with a shared kitchen, bathroom or toilet – you must use a specific ground to evict them at the end of an academic year: 4A.
This can be used where “100pc of the tenants are full-time students at the start of the tenancy, allowing the housing cycle to align with the academic calendar”, said Graham Hayward, of Housing Hand, a student property advice service.
However, there are a lot of requirements to make this valid. These include:
- The tenants were full-time students when they signed the tenancy, or the landlord expected them to become full-time students during the tenancy.
- The landlord is intending to let to full-time students when they next let the property.
- The tenancy was signed less than six months before the date the tenants could move in.
- The property is an HMO or is part of an HMO.
- The landlord gave their tenants written notice that they may evict them under Ground 4A before they signed the tenancy.
- The landlord served a Section 8 notice, relying on Ground 4A, seeking possession of a property using Form 3A, on each of the tenants, with at least four months’ notice of their intention to evict them.
- The notice period must end between June 1 and Sept 30 each year.
If the Ground 4A notice is not served correctly, it is null and void and the entire process needs to start again. What’s more, if landlords repeatedly breach the above, they could be fined up to £40,000.
“Possession is now heavily dependent on whether Ground 4A has been correctly set up and whether all procedural requirements have been met,” said Kyle Dunn, property specialist and founder of Commercial Mortgage Guide.
“Notice serving is no longer a contractual ‘end date’ exercise, but a regulated process tied to statutory grounds, minimum notice periods, and court enforceability… Without [Ground 4A], student HMOs could theoretically roll on indefinitely, disrupting university housing turnover.”
For current student lets, there are transition arrangements in place, as many tenancies will have been entered into prior to the new rules coming into force on May 1 – but affected landlords must have already acted to make use of them.
If you issued Ground 4A notices for pre-existing tenancies between May 1-31, you can qualify for a limited two-month notice period (compared to the usual four months), and regain possession of the property between June 1 and Sept 30, in time for the next academic year. The last chance to serve notice is July 31.