Student Accommodation

The eviction ban ended on 31 March 2024.

We have more guidance on the eviction ban and the rent cap.

Many students rent from a private landlord either on their own or as part of a flatshare. In such cases advisers should check the relevant section based on the type of tenancy held.

Where this is unclear advisers can use the tenancy checker tool.

However, halls of residence and purpose-built student accommodation are excluded from the statutory tenancy types. As such, the rights of students living in these types of accommodation depend mainly on the terms in their contract and on common law.

When referring to ‘student lettings’ in this context, the legislation defines these as student accommodations which are currently excluded from being a private residential tenancy. [1] Broadly, these are halls of residence and purpose-built student accommodation owned by private providers.

Student lettings are defined as either:

• Lettings to students, where the student is renting accommodation from their educational establishment. These include halls of residence for most universities, central institutions, designated institutions, further education colleges, colleges of education and the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. If there is uncertainty the legislation provides a comprehensive list, [2] or

• Purpose-built accommodation owned by private providers where: [3]

  - Planning permission was given for the property on the basis that the let property would be used predominantly for housing students and

  - The landlord lets or is entitled to let other buildings in the same complex and

  - The let property and other properties include at least 30 bedrooms and

  - The landlord uses or intends to use the other properties predominately for the purpose of housing students