Firstly, the Government has inserted a new provision whereby a tenancy will not be an assured tenancy (and will therefore fall outside the regime) if it is a tenancy let to a full-time student at a specified educational institution where that tenancy is granted by a specified educational institution or by a specified body of persons. Alternatively, tenancies will not be assured where someone acting on behalf of the landlord is a member of a specified housing management code of practice. It is not yet entirely clear how these provisions will operate as the Act outlines this framework but there is much detail which has not been finalised and will be contained in secondary legislation. For example, what criteria will need to be met for an organisation to fall within the category of a specified body of persons? These provisions, however, are designed to give effect the Government’s original aim to exempt some Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (“PBSA”) from the Act.

Once the Act comes into force, where a tenancy let to students meets this exemption, it is likely to be a common law tenancy which means that landlords can continue to grant a fixed term tenancy with a break clause. It is important to note that this exemption will come into force two months after the Act received Royal Assent (i.e. on 27 December 2025) whereas the majority of the remainder of the Act will not come into force until the commencement date of the Act. The Government has announced that the Act will be implemented in phases from 1 May 2026. Where a tenancy to students does not fall within the above exemption, under the Act, it will convert to or be an assured periodic monthly tenancy. During the passage of the Act, the Government introduced a new ground for possession: Ground 4A. This enables landlords to seek possession of a property let to full-time students where possession is required to let it to another group of full-time students.