From 1 May 2026, there are important changes coming into action for people that rent in England. With a lot of students at UWE Bristol renting from the private market, these could affect you now and in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is guidance, not legal advice. If you’re ever in doubt about your tenancy, you can contact the Students’ Union Advice Centre<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These changes will affect anyone who has an assured tenancy, or an assured shorthold tenancy (AST). ASTs are a type of tenancy that run for a fixed term, such as twelve months. If you are renting your student house privately from a landlord, you likely have an AST. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you live in social housing, in university housing, or as a lodger, the new rules will not<\/strong> apply. <\/p>\n\n\n\n University housing and purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) that is covered by an approved code of practice, have common law tenancies or licences to occupy, not an AST. You will still need to follow the processes laid out in the terms and conditions of your agreement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In short, these are the key changes that are coming into place on 1 May 2026: <\/p>\n\n\n\n While Section 21 evictions won\u2019t be allowed anymore, landlords can still ask you to leave the property in certain situations using a Section 8 notice: <\/p>\n\n\n\n For students, there are also Ground 4A notices. These are designed to let students living in houses of multiple occupancy (HMOs) leave at the end of the academic year. There are still rules they will need to follow to put this into place: <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are not issued with a Ground 4A notice, you\u2019ll need to give two months\u2019 notice before you move out. You might be able to arrange a shorter notice period with your landlord, but two months\u2019 is the new standard. So, if you want to move out in June, you\u2019ll need to give your notice in April. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Because the changes are coming in during most students\u2019 tenancies, your landlord will send you information about the Renters’ Rights Act. These will go into effect from 1 May 2026 so will likely impact the end of your tenancy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The key thing is to plan in advance and do not assume your old fixed-term end date still applies. You will need to give your two months\u2019 notice yourselves unless an agreement has already been reached. To make sure your notice is valid: <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you already signed an assured tenancy or AST\u00a0for the next academic year, it will still be valid.\u00a0Your\u00a0landlord will need to\u00a0provide you with a written statement by 31 May 2026 detailing the changes to your rights and how it will affect your tenancy.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because of the cap, it is likely that landlords will rely more on guarantors.\u00a0The\u00a0rules around guarantors\u00a0won\u2019t\u00a0be changing<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n For international students, getting a guarantor can be tricky because of the requirements. There are guarantor agencies that will act on your behalf. These services charge between 4% and 20% of the total rent, so it can vary significantly between agencies. It\u2019s well worth shopping around to get the best deal to suit you and your needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Everyone who signs the agreement will enter a joint tenancy. This means if one person wants to leave it will end the agreement for everyone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, before you panic, this doesn\u2019t necessarily mean everyone will need to move out. Discuss this with your housemates and landlord to explore options for continuing with a replacement tenant and a fresh tenancy agreement for those staying. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, under the new Act you can ask to have a pet once you have moved in. Your landlord will need to give a good excuse, with evidence, why they are refusing your request. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, there are still things need to be considered. Can you fit caring for your pet around your studies and lifestyle? How do your other housemates feel about having a pet? Are the house, garden and neighbourhood appropriate for your pet? Having a pet is a big commitment and shouldn\u2019t be taken lightly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019re not sure how this will affect the rental market just yet, but these changes will help strengthen tenants\u2019 rights overall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Renters\u2019 Rights Act also means that HMO landlords will not be able to require students to leave the property if they sign students up more than six months before the moving in date. This means that the searching and signing part of finding your student house will likely move to the spring months so landlords can issue Ground 4A notices. This will hopefully stop landlords and agencies pressurising students to make a commitment too early, before they have had a proper chance to look at the market and get to know potential housemates. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From 1 May 2026, there are important changes coming into action for people that rent in England. With a lot of students at UWE Bristol renting from the private market, these could affect you now and in the future. This is guidance, not legal advice. If you’re ever in doubt about your tenancy, you can … Continue reading “Renters’ Rights Act – what you need to know”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":4571,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":73,"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[425,426],"class_list":["post-4516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-living-in-bristol","tag-private-accommodation","tag-renting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4516"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4520,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4516\/revisions\/4520"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Who will these changes affect?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What key changes are happening?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Can my landlord still end my contract?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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How will this affect my current tenancy?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I’ve already signed my contract for next year. What will happen now?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Will I still need a guarantor?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
I want to leave my shared house. How should I end my tenancy?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Can I bring my pet?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How will this affect renting in the future?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n