The long-awaited renters reform bill was finally published this month with much discussion of the extension of the Decent Homes Standard to the Private Rental Sector, the banning of Section 21 'No fault' evictions and the much needed tightening of rules for social housing landlords.
The content of the bill will change as it makes its way through the Parliamentary process, but the wording relating to the removal of Section 21 and related items will cause chaos in the student rental market unless it is radically changed. In its current form, landlords will not be able to let for a fixed period, so come February when normally students choose their accommodation for the next year, landlords will have no certainty that current tenants will leave when the summer term ends and as a result, will not be able to advertise their properties.
The impact for students is that they will have to fight for whatever becomes available in July / August, rents will be higher as a landlord stuck with 1 tenant or worse an empty house will recover those now unavoidable void periods with higher rents when he or she is able to find tenants and there will be a lot less property available as landlords inevitably move to more reliable income sources.