Despite being some of the most in need, students are being overlooked in the government’s rental reforms, Generation Rent’s Tilly Smith writes
Tilly Smith is Research and Participation Manager at Generation Rent, a campaign group representing private renters.
The Renters’ Rights Bill is quickly progressing through Parliament and has now reached
the House of Lords. The Bill is set to bring about the biggest reforms in a generation for
tenants in England, with the end to Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions a particular
highlight.
However, one key group has been sorely overlooked and excluded from these reforms
– students.
Student rentals are notorious for being of a poorer quality, particularly when it comes to
damp and mould.
Unfortunately, it is clear to see where this reputation comes from. In November 2024, the National Union of Students (NUS) found that 84% of students had experienced problems in their home – including almost half with mould or mildew.
Of equal concern is the shocking affordability crisis the NUS has highlighted, with over a
quarter of students struggling to pay the rent, and 17% having used a foodbank.
The case is clear – private renters are in desperate need of better-quality homes that
they can afford, and student renters are some of the most in need.
Yet, the Renters’ Rights Bill not only fails to address these issues, but in many cases, completely cuts
them out of these vital reforms.
Students living in on-campus accommodation provided by universities and those in
Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA), such as accommodation provided by
Unite Students or IQ, will be completely excluded from the Bill.
Unlike other renters, these students will remain vulnerable to eviction, usually with less than a month’s
notice.
According to our own analysis of figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), around 433,000 students were living in halls or similar forms of accommodation in the last academic year, meaning that hundreds of thousands of young people will be almost completely excluded from the reforms that other renters will be enjoying every year.
That’s not all. For students living in Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs), usually
called house shares, with three or more students in total living in the home, their
landlord will usually be free to evict them at any point between June and September.
The thinking behind this, is that it means a landlord can evict their tenants during the
summer holiday, in time for a new cohort of students to enter in the new academic year.
But, if your course does not end until later in the summer, or even after September, this
could leave you facing a move or even homelessness, right as many students are
studying for their final exams.
As well as this, students who plan to work local to their university, who are estranged
from their families, or simply want to live in their student home over summer, will all be vulnerable to eviction by their landlord for these four months.
This will be through the. introduction of a new grounds for evictions – known as ground 4A.
Our analysis of ONS figures found that, last year, 384,000 students were living in
private rented homes with at least one other student and no non-students – most of
which would be exposed to these student evictions.
This means that, once again, hundreds of thousands of renters will be vulnerable to evictions for a quarter of the year, through no fault of their own – effectively keeping Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, in all but name, in place for these students during this time.
This cohort of renters will therefore be vulnerable to ‘revenge evictions’ – meaning their landlord or letting agent could retaliate to the tenant’s attempts at using their rights by evicting them.
They will therefore be discouraged from reporting issues with their home, going to their local
council for support, or questioning unfair rent rises, for fear of losing their home.
Even worse, landlord groups are now fighting to exclude even more students from the
reforms.
The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) has been pushing for people living in small house shares of two students, or students living on their own, to be able to be evicted with a 4A (the new student eviction ground).
Several peers have put down an amendment to this effect. There are huge problems with this, not least of all because students are made up of people in very different personal and family
circumstances, with those living on their own or with one other student more likely to
need a settled home, such as mature or post-graduate students.
Analysis of ONS figures reveals that 76,000 students were living alone as private
renters in 2021, three quarters of whom were over the age of 20. They would all be
swallowed up by this thoughtless amendment that would leave them vulnerable to unfair
evictions.
But as well as this being extremely unfair, local communities with high student
populations are crying out for their highly skilled, open for work, student visitors to
become permanent residents after graduation.
Yet, all these proposed changes do is work to discourage this, and push students to move back to the parts of the country they grew up in.
During the second debate in the House of Lords, one Peer even suggested that the
government should introduce 12-month student tenancies – a move that would almost
entirely cut off students from any improvements that the Renters’ Rights Bill could bring
them.
In the words of Lord Willets, this would continue “a system which has worked well
overall”.
Worked well for who? Certainly not for the millions of students who have been forced to
endure disgusting, mould-ridden properties, and who are pouring their loans into
covering the rent for the privilege.
The student rental market is broken, and too many of those in positions of power have simply decided that students, especially young students, do not need to live in good quality, secure homes they feel safe and comfortable in.
We cannot let students be abandoned. These reforms must reach through to them, especially as they are some of the most in need.
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