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!

“my” student property is not unearned. However it was our family home and is now let out to students to pay my mum’s care home fees. The rent only covers a fraction of those and the rest is made up by pensions and savings, however people moving out early as part of the renters rights reform will either mean I increase the monthly rent in anticipation that students will only stay for ten months max not 12 as previously contractually agreed, or I do something else with it. My mum was a professor at the university to whose students it is let out to and would be happy it is let out to them, it is very well maintained and at or below the rate other same size properties charge. I just don’t think either landlords or students will benefit from this - it only benefits the big student purpose built accommodations who charge excessively and are allowed to have incredibly rigid rules on tenancies which will only be more so.

You again are privileged that you do not have to sell it to pay for care.

sorry your mum is ill and in scar home thought that is tough

I understand that in Oxford it's already pretty common for student lets not to be for the full year, as many landlords like to let the property for short-term holiday lets over the summer, as they make more money that way. But obviously that depends on there being a significant influx of tourists over the summer. That certainly happens in Oxford, but obviously not in all student cities.

Surely he could put them on Airbnb for high rents over summer and make even more money? Student cities are usually busy in the summer with tourists or culture events, families needing somewhere to stay for graduations etc. he’d be rolling in it, assuming it’s decent enough accommodation

I’ll put it to him. To be honest him and mum are getting tired of it all. Dad puts a lot of work and money into the houses and is very responsive. The students love him. I think he’ll be looking to sell one of them to reduce the workload and stress

I am not a LL and I appreciate you are, but I find this hand wringing over privileged argument illogical - is the implication that private 'ownership' is privilege so fair game to take on anything?

If the poster didn't have any assets, a care home would be paid for by the State. How does the State pay for those who cannot pay?, by taxing those who can - who take on a risk and put effort in to running and maintaining the property. Why are you making them apologise for it?

The end game of undermining contractual rights, is fewer private LL's, potentially fewer rental properties, less competition in the rental market and therefore higher prices for renters who abide by their contracts.

our kids uni rentals are from june to june which I prefer to sept to sept as june to june you can move in at leisure over the summer.
I do get why a landlord would not want a period of empty property, but uni property rental in our kids uni city is extortionate as the prices are so high they are more than double what they would be if they weren't renting to uni kids.

Does anyone have a share token for the Times article please?

Generation Rent's lobbying appeared very effective. The student possession exemption, Ground 4A, was a late addition, and based on Landlord lobbying. Otherwise landlords would not have been able to ensure properties were vacant for the next academic year.

Landlords have become very much the bad guys. There is evidence on this post. The problem is that too many people now view the Private Rental Sector as a cash cow (additional income, stamp duty and capital gains tax, MTD, licensing costs, second home surcharge) , a way of compensating for deficiencies in social housing, and a way of delivering environmental policy objectives. For many landlords the figures, when seen alongside rising building and mortgage costs, just don't add up. Its not just small landlords giving up. Accidental landlords who might have rented out homes will now be weighing up the costs and risks carefully, whilst some of the corporate players are reconsidering their Build to Rent schemes.

There is a disaster waiting to happen. Apart from properties coming up for rental later, costing more and tenancies starting at the start of summer, things should be OK for students. They can be asked to leave at the end of their lease. The bigger issue is a smaller pool of landlords becoming much more cautious about who they rent to in the future. It will soon become really difficult to rent if you have a CCJ, or don't have good references, a good job, or a guarantor. It will be important for today's students to get references. Don't casually decide not to pay the last month's rent, leave the property in good order and admit things that have been broken. Don't leave unpaid utility bills. Think about having at least one of the bills in your name so you start building a credit record. A good landlord reference could be important in the future.

DS1 has the same where he is.

Which is good as we can move him out of halls and into rental on the same trip!

Agree -this is an appalling attitude. Don’t expect a reference from the landlord. Unbelievable that people can be so shabby, and parents facilitate this.

I’m absolutely with you on this!

I allowed students to vacate in June after exams and would usually let in September meaning I had to Airbnb in the summer months unless the new tenancy started earlier.

My DDs have had to pay for tenancies that start in July when they’re not around and the landlord has the nerve to say that the previous tenants will vacate the day before and are obliged to clean the property. However if they don’t the property is not deemed uninhabitable before the landlord is able to have it cleaned.

And, if the new tenants intend to move in before September they must notify the landlord so the landlord can prioritise cleans among their rental properties.

So, no gaps in between tenancies and the landlord’s intention is clearly to effect repairs if at all or clean during the summer when they expect students to not be in occupation but are charging them full rent.

Even as a landlord, I do hope that students exercise their right to terminate as it suits them.

Where DD is, most student tenancies are from 1st July anyway, and this practice is likely to spread.

Things needed to change and hopefully they will shift for the better for students. Perhaps it will be the end of small scale student landlords. It's not such a bad thing if more of those houses are returned to family use. Perhaps most students will live in purpose built property for the whole 3 years of their degree. There are universities where there are problems with too many student houses in certain areas of the city and they are building more university owned accommodation. So, there might have been a natural leasing of demand for student houses anyway.

The system has been awful for students, expecting them to decide who to share with barely weeks I to begining university. Multiple viewings, paying deposits and getting their heads around contracts, asking parents to commit to being guarantors of other young people they've never met - all when they're just getting to grips with independent living and finding their feet studying at university. It's unfair to young people. The lls have had it all their way for too long and students have been the cash cow.

The grotty houses my DD rented in Bath would never have earned the same money from a family, professionals or air bnb rentals. It was money for nothing.

It isn’t the fault of landlords that many students start looking early, so landlords advertise early, and round and round it goes.

Perhaps most students will live in purpose built property for the whole 3 years of their degree. There are universities where there are problems with too many student houses in certain areas of the city and they are building more university owned accommodation.

Many, many of these will not be owned by a university even if they are badged by a university. There’s not a lot of money in many institutions that can be spared for multi year building projects.

Of course it's the landlords. Students can only choose to look at properties after properties have been advertised.

There are universities building more student accommodation right now. But regardless of private or university owned - more students will live in purpose built accommodation.

It's a circle, is what I am saying.

If landlords advertised in October and no students tried to set up viewings then but all waited until January, landlords wouldn't advertise in October. And uni towns will have letting agents with physical premises - if students wander in making enquiries in October, should the agent inform their clients or tell the students to go away for a couple of months.

I said many institutions didn't have the money for capital projects. I didn't say all. Which ones do you have in mind>

From the other side of the coin, it appears that students who currently have fixed term rents and intend to stay to the end will now actually have to give two months notice rather than just moving out at the end of the fixed term - or they can be charged up to two months additional rent.

The thing is we're taking about 18 year olds who will be desperate not to be left out and to make sure they have people to live with needing to secure private accommodation for second year when there often isn't enough that is reasonably priced. They will jump at it as soon as they know there might be something to look at. Landlords will have taken advantage of that desperation.

Universities building more student accommodation - Exeter and Bath that I know of.

Are you joking? That just won’t happen, too much of a cash cow in a market that is guaranteed. The quality of private student housing would also need to improve massively for some of these houses and flats to be let to anyone else.

One of my DC’s - student flat in a city, £800 per month each, 6 students, living room rented as a bedroom, a kitchen with a two seater sofa as the only communal space.

Awful place, draughty (in fact I asked if he had the window open as his hair was blowing as we chatted - “no that is the draught through the gap in the window frame” 😱).

All that will happen is that student will have to rent from July as the students before them leave.

A better option would be a gap in the tenancy where the landlord can spend some money to maintain the flat. (But I bet that does not happen!)

This one for Bath?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y7rl3l7gvo

Sounds like it’s targeted at first years so doesn’t solve the private rent in second year issue. Also only works for Bath because they have tennis courts to build it on - many universities won’t have land that works for this.

My point is that things will sort themselves out. If landlords don't want to rent to students that's on them. Either universities will have to supply more accommodation, private companies will build more or numbers at certain universities will decrease if they get a reputation for not enough accommodation in the city.