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!

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69bc04b8f7b1c24d8e23ce60/The_Renters__Rights_Act_Information_Sheet_2026.pdf

This is handy to refer to if you haven’t had it.

If the LL hasn’t served notice then it’s unlikely that he has found new tenants and also your Dd probably would have been aware if there had been viewings.

So the obligation is on the tenants to serve 2 months’ notice for the tenancy to end on a rent payment date.

Presumably, this is the first of the month in which case it seems the earliest they can now end the tenancy is on 1 August.

However, both parties can agree a shorter notice period, so worth asking the LL.

If the LL doesn’t agree, they should serve the notice as soon as possible for the tenancy to end on 1 August (presuming rent is paid on the first).

Thanks @Maggiethecat, that confirms the conclusion I had come to (unfortunately). The LL had given them notice of viewings almost every week but they only had two lots come round I think and when they asked them about the house the current tenants were pretty honest so don't think they'll have taken it! DD did say whilst she was home over Easter that the agency appeared to have resent them the contract for no reason, so I wonder whether actually it was notice (clutching at straws!) I've messaged her about it so will talk to her about it in the next couple of days.

It seems daft that the LL is obliged to give them that information sheet by 31 May - surely it should have been an obligation to give it to them by 1 May (so all tenants with a tenancy ending 30 June - and there must be loads of students with them - could give two months notice in time). I'd like to say lesson learnt for DD that she needs to keep on top of changes to law that might affect her - but in practice as we pay her rent for her it's us who will end up paying up! Just maybe one of her fellow tenants (a couple of which are more politically engaged than DD) had picked it up and given notice - and as they have a joint tenancy that would be sufficient for all of them.

@AliMonkey - I feel for you.

Sadly, I think it’s easy for our Dc to not pay close attention to matters that affect rent payment, return of deposit etc if it’s not their pockets directly affected.

I have one Dd affected by the changes and she has confirmed that their LL/agent served notice but she did check with me before receiving the LL notice if I thought the tenants needed to serve notice
terminate, as they wish.

Hopefully the LL has served in your case too.

The information sheet was legally required to be given from the time it was available, in April I think, and must be provided by 31/5 for tenancies that started before 1/5/26.

Is it possible that your DD’s group was given the information before 1/5?

If the LL has not given notice I would strongly encourage them to prepare the notice requesting termination on 1/7 (or 30/6) and hope the LL will be lenient. This would be outside the requirements of the Act but the parties can mutually agree this.

If not, serve notice for termination 1/8 (or whichever date required, according to rent payment date as legally required) just be careful to get the notice termination dates right.

Good luck!

Purpose built student accomodation is exempt from this element of the new regs.

Ha. May I refer you to the Green Party to show what happens when some students 'get older'.

As the Act came into force 1 May, I’m not sure that there would have been a legal mechanism to enforce notification on or before 1/5.

( not to say that individual agents and landlords didn’t get ahead of the game in student areas)

No, no legal requirement before the Act effective on 1 May which does seem shortsighted since so many student tenancies would have been due to end on 30/6/26.

But you’re right, many agents have been on the ball.

We’ve always let our student houses from July to June. Any LL that hasn’t is stupid.

My son is at uni and his let was from September til August. He gave notice on 1st May. It’s a no brainer.

I hope you take the time over the summer, when the property is likely uninhabited, to carry out any work required, address mould etc if present, so that when the students do occupy everything is in good order.

Unfortunately that is not the case with many student lets.

This is what they used to do years ago.

I’m pleased to report that DD’s LL had in fact served the notice in April via a S21. She hadn’t mentioned it as being her first non-uni rental she just assumed it was normal. So maybe he has managed to let it to some desperate students for next year!

That’s brilliant news!

May be worth suggesting that DD familiarise herself with the information sheet and the current position on tenancies.

@Boxdyewilldowell he’s a fool to rent below market - that certainly isn’t anything any of my friends kids have experienced. Student landlords generally get far more than if they were to rent to non student tenants. What he should do is start tenancies from July 1.

They are a cash cow, the government could put in law that every student house in the countries rent is halved overnight, and most of those landlords would still be raking it in.

Do you have some stats on this? Given interest rates since the Truss days, I would be surprised.

Compare the cost of a family rental to a student rental in the same city and you can easily see that student landlords are taking in more money. For a start they usually make every reception room a bedroom. I found the history of my DD's second year house. It was originally 4 bedrooms then 5, then 6 and finally 7.

I suspect the ceiling price has been reached in many cities - and we might see costs coming down, as student private landlords will have to compete with purpose built student accommodation that is saturating the market (Nottingham is already there) Otherwise they will let as private HMOs and probably have to up the standard of their accommodation to do so.

I suppose all of this will be city dependent but having just looked on Rightmove at Bath, I'm surprised to see so many student houses still available for rent and their listing says they have reduced their price.

@fogwood isn’t a fairer comparison a “young professional” rental? My understanding is that a lot of 20-somethings are living and working in places without a reception room.

Possibly. HMOs for you young professionals tend to have en suite bathrooms and a high spec kitchen. They might even have a weekly cleaner as part of the deal. Young professionals would not tolerate the damp and mould found in many student properties.

landlords will bring the start date forward to the earliest they can and they will put the rent up.
it's another government-introduced policy that hasn't been thought through properly annoying
they are just trying to show they are doing something

same for my child in his 3rd year... all the student shared house he has been or has ever visited have always started 1st July for 12 months ... that's the market there in Manchester ... he wouldn't have found anything starting 1st september

To be fair, it’s not specifically a student rental policy - many other lets had no reasons for specific start and finish dates and were therefore on a rolling basis after an initial period

When i was a student we paid a retainer of about £100 to hold it over the summer, then paid rent from Sept- June. I think students already pay more than the going rent for houses. The retainer is good because it allows the landlord to do repairs etc before the next lot of students.

I think it’s difficult to meaningfully define the going rent for non-students in a city or area where rentals are largely to students. Students have lived in rented accommodation for decades.

Except that a lot of crappy landlords are not interested in doing the repairs required to provide decent living accommodation for students.

DD’s house had extensive mould issues that were still being addressed, causing major disruption, after they moved in late September, when these could’ve been done in the 3 months over the summer while the students weren’t in occupation yet were paying full rent.

Students are often treated disrespectfully, in a way that other renters are not.

Yes. What will happen is landlords will sell because they are sick of it, or they will increase rents to cover the "empty" months. It us not rocket science!