Can student tenants end a fixed term HMO tenancy early under new renters' rights rules?

[Bezaz]

Wasn't sure whether to put this in Property or in Higher Ed.
DD is renting a student HMO in her uni town. It was a fixed term 12 month tenancy which was signed last year to run between 1st Sept 2025 and 31st Aug 2026. However she and her housemates are all finished with uni by the middle of June, and keen to pack up and come home.
Under the new Renters Rights Act (which comes into effect on 1st May), can they, on that day, give two months notice of their intention to leave the house on 1st July, and thus save themselves two months worth of rent? Presimbaly any new tenants won't be moving in until 1st Sep 2026.
Any advice welcome!

There is a trend for more students to study at their “home” university (around 30% now, and rising). I think some student lets will exit the market because of this, and wider rental reforms.

Rents can’t rise more than students can afford. The student loan hasn’t kept up with inflation.

So if the tenancy starts on 1st July they'll be paying for two months they don't need at the beginning instead of the end of the academic year.

I also don't understand how it will stop the rush for early sign ups, if anything it will be worse because landlords are likely to exit the student market.

There’s an article on this in The Sunday Times today and it says that students can end their tenancy early. I think it will mean leads accommodation available next year and higher prices.

Where my daughter is studying the amount landlords make from students compared to house prices is ridiculous. And there is special provision in the new regulations for Landlords being able to get students out at the end of the academic year; which makes them more attractive to LLs than other tenants.
the government leaflet:
https://cdn.fbsbx.com/v/t59.2708-21/654849879_1336213551874422_186497426507674811_n.pdf/The_Renters__Rights_Act_Information_Sheet_2026.pdf?_nc_cat=106&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=2b0e22&_nc_ohc=5GT553Pm9KMQ7kNvwF_EcTQ&_nc_oc=AdqMyom-VRpe2lfiIqs3Kf3vchnOX9quMKJ7i90eB4JvaBcinpkHl0X6DBrbRuGkInzfvIzBw-KzyJO5xQvB6ttx&_nc_zt=7&_nc_ht=cdn.fbsbx.com&_nc_gid=YJ-YhGIizxeWMCxu0jxzhg&_nc_ss=7a3a8&oh=03_Q7cD5AE2knU4DrAeISddEnga3we_vHKJgnAGB86vTAbPIc7c8A&oe=69D40C4D&dl=1#no_universal_links

Most student lets begin on 1 July anyway. This is standard and has been for years so landlords receive rent over the summer.

Most won’t want to vacate much before the end of June anyway. Some might choose to vacate at the end of May when exams usually finish. But then they will miss June at uni which is the fun post-exam time.

Regardless, Landlirds will find ways to make their ‘year’ if rent. If the student letting year becomes 10 or 11 months, they will charge higher monthly rent to get the same yearly rent, esp in cities where supply is a bit tight.

Students organise their lets for the following academic year pretty early in most places - before Christmas and often significantly before. If the local market starts let’s from 1 July then that’s what they take.

It will take a couple of years for any new patterns to emerge.

Two months notice is required so this is incorrect. Edited to say that is two months 🤦‍♀️

I believe the main reason landlords run a 51 or 52 week tenancy is because the property is furnished and they are then liable for council tax for any period that it is unoccupied by tenants. I used to work in council tax in a university town. The decent landlords would be billed for 1 week whilst they cleaned and fixed any issues before the new tenants moved in. The 52 weekers relied on the previous students or last remaining student to clean the property.

My children went into private halls of residence for second and third year which were actually cheaper than sharing a student 6 bed in a desirable location, which basically meant closer to night life. But the student house lets in that area were grim. This might differ depending on the university but it worked out better for mine.

I can see why students would want to give notice on 1st May. Both of mine were finished with exams by the end of May or first week of June.

There’s a piece about this today in the Sunday Times - yet another unintended consequence of the RRA which may limit availability of student accommodation if landlords can’t make it pay for them. In addition it may create conflict between sharers, some of whom may not wish to end the tenancy early either due to the nature of their course, a local job, unsuitable accommodation at home etc. In English law Notice given by one joint tenant is treated as Notice by them all - what happens then??

In some cities in Europe there are definitely markets for student lets (during the academic year) that become AirBnB type lets during the summer months. Clever landlords make more money this way as the short term holiday lets are a lot more profitable than student lets. But the quality of student tenants is an issue.

One of our children currently lives in a fantastic house in London that could easily be rented out in the summer months to tourists. The four current student tenants are very fussy and have put pressure on the landlady to mend broken fixtures, deal with mould, mice etc. Potentially I can see rent for such students remaining stable given that the 3 months of summer tourist rentals could be highly profitable.

Most uni landlords took half rent for the three summer months so I don't think it'll be as big a problem as sonebin here think

However, the type of student accommodation that is converted former council housing is unlikely to make much money on the tourist rental market.

None of our children ever lived in a student city where that was the case.

DC tenancy started on 1 July and they moved stuff straight from Uni room to shared house. Staying there for another year. Expect more student landlords will change to July start to keep 12 months rent.

Not in my recent experience - 2 students with 5 properties between them

The point is that RRA allows tenants to give 2 months notice at any time and fixed term tenancies are now no longer permitted. The Sunday Tines article today quoted students whose courses effectively end at Easter saying they would happily give Notice to expire in say April then move home to finish dissertations, revise for exams etc for the rest of the summer term.

This is a disaster for landlords in this sector. And could be a disaster for sharers who do NOT want to end the tenancy early who could have the rug pulled from under them by a fellow joint tenant. The only way to get round this is to have separate tenancy agreements for each room in a shared house which then takes away one’s choice of housemate if one moves out.

The RRA is such a bad piece of legislation,

Will amount to same £ for students just over 10 months instead of 12. Maybe LL will repaint etc in the void. Some students will want to stay in uni town for summer. Many LL will be fine. If property is nice they can airbnb. Or language students etc.

Not sure you can say that. Your daughter chose to live there for a year.

Most things around RRA will ultimately mean price rises in accommodation. If you sign a contract you should stick to it.

Yes it will and I would expect that landlords will just make up those months over the other 10 or stop renting to students.

It'll be a disaster for students when these LL leave the sector.

He should contact the local councils private tenancy support office.
Bad landlords need sorting out.

It won’t help students. It will help the landlords as students have no choice but to pay July and August at the start of a tenancy, because they’ll need the house from September onwards. If July and August fall at the end of the tenancy they don’t need them so can give notice and leave.

I went to uni 20 years ago and all student lets were July-June. Even before this new legislation there was nothing to stop you not paying your June rent (landlord then used deposit as rent) and doing a bunk for July and August. At least 20 years ago there wasn’t! Think it was common for a few years so LL changed to July contract starts. When everyone is scrabbling around for housing and worrying about being homeless, it’s hard to say ‘let’s just wait til August and see what’s available then to avoid paying July and August rent’. Everyone I know just sucked up paying the 2 months they didn’t need.

DDs landlord specialises in student lets - he basically has a "transition month" from late July to late August where they get charged a lower rent and can be in the house but have to accept that they may be coming in and doing repairs etc. Worked well as DD wanted to be in London over the summer but could leave her stuff in the house whilst the 2 friends who wanted to be in the house could "bedroom hop" over the redecoration period. Also meant that they had a well maintained and renovated home at the beginning of September when DD went back.

The Council tax point is an important one. Larger properties are likely to be towards the top band. Many places have second home Council tax surcharges. Often 100% extra, though I think Wales was 300% at one point. Students don't pay Council tax, but landlords do during voids.

Tenants no longer sign fixed term leases, and can give notice at any point. I think this will stop the autumn rush to find somewhere, with properties instead coming up for rent a couple of months prior to July when this year's tenants are likely to give notice. Don't forget you only need one tenant on a joint and several tenancy to give notice. (Though god knows how that works if the others want to stay, and eviction is so difficult.) It is likely that the pattern will shift to beginning July to end June.

I always wonder about students/anyone who choose to live in slums and then complain. DD reckoned you could only have two out of three. Price, location and quality. Their astonishingly cheap and well located flat was a slum. We spent three days scrubbing, including covering ceilings with anti-mould spray, and then bought a large rug for her bedroom floor. There had been so many parties and beer spilt on that carpet that wet, post shower, feet would have stuck. They kept the flat looking nice and the landlord got a 50% increase in rent from the next year's tenants. The building was then sold to developers. A huge proportion of smaller scale landlords are planning to exit within the next few years. The figures no longer add up, and things like the need to meet EPC C by 2030 will be the death knell for older rented properties. The slack will be taken up by private student residencies. I think this is deliberate Government policy.