Renters' Rights Bill

Written evidence submitted by College and University Business Officers to The Renters’ Rights Public Bill Committee (RRB79)

About CUBO

CUBO is the membership body for professionals responsible for higher education commercial and campus services. This includes university owned and managed residential accommodation as well as university partnerships with private purpose-built student accommodation providers (PBSA). We have a membership of 126 universities and 1600+ professional staff.

CUBO also administers one of the three approved codes of practice for PBSA - the UUK/GuildHE Accommodation Code of Practice, which operates for the protection and support of students in university owned and/or managed residential accommodation, currently assuring 4330 buildings and 258,727 bed spaces across 142 institutions.

Though primarily concerned with PBSA, our members and their universities care deeply about the students they accommodate and what happens to them when they leave PBSA, as most do, to go into the private rented market for the remainder of their study.

Summary of CUBO views

1. Alongside Unipol Student Housing and Universities UK we have already shared our concerns with ministers about the impact on students of both the Renters Reform Bill and the Renters Rights Bill.

2. We welcome the Renters Rights Bill and its objectives in strengthening tenants’ rights. However, we believe the Bill will have unintended consequences for students, by reducing the supply of private rented accommodation and increasing their rents.

3. Some 700,000 of the 1.2 million full-time students in the UK rent shared houses or flats while studying away from home. It is therefore critical that the supply of this type of housing for students is maintained. It is also a more affordable type of accommodation.

4. The model for university study in the UK currently enables students of all backgrounds to choose where they study. However, it relies on a sufficient number of landlords being willing to rent to students in a competitive market where alternatives exist. It also relies on that accommodation being reasonably priced.

5. The exemption in the Bill for university-owned, university managed and private PBSA that signs up to an approved code of practice is welcome and is recognition of the unique relationship between student tenancies and the academic cycle.

6. It is our view that the legislation should recognise the unique cyclical nature of all student accommodation, and also allow private landlords renting HMOs and flats exclusively to students to continue to offer fixed term contracts, but with some student-specific conditions to protect students.

7. The student accommodation market depends on accommodation becoming available for next year’s students. To date this has been managed through fixed-term contracts, giving assurance to landlords that the property will be vacated and to future students that accommodation will be available. These contracts can start at any time of year. In practice the majority of students study in line with the academic year ( September to Ju ne/July ), but most universities also run post - graduate courses from January to December .

8. While the proposed g round 4a allows landlords renting to full-time students to seek possession between June to September, it does not take into account the January start date and other, flexible start dates.

9. The proposed new ground for possession 4a also only applies to Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs) , not properties with fewer than three student occupants . These smaller properties constitute around 3 0 % of properties listed on the Accommodation for Students booking platform . With no ground for possession , as well as the risk of a void until the next academic cycle, and liability for council tax if students serve notice part way through the academic year, r en ting to other tenant groups becomes the safer option , especially in markets where there is already a shortage of properties to rent .

10. The ability to give 2 months’ notice due to poor living standards is a positive benefit for tenants in general, but will make little difference to students , since the vast majority of student housing is already covered by licensing under the Housing Act 2004. It will however lead some students to give notice earlier in the academic year, because their courses finish in May. This is understandable, but will have consequences for future students , as it leave s a summer void for landlords. Some will look to rent to another tenant group while others will continue to rent to students but raise rents to students to compensate .

11. About 50% of student tenants in private rented accommodation are joint tenants. Under the legislation, if one student serves notice, all students would be out of con tract . We would hope that landlords allow the remaining students to find a replacement or cover the los t rent for the remainder of the contract , however in markets where there is high demand for private rented acco mmodation, the remaining students would appear to have no protection i f the landlord chooses to re-let to e.g. professionals . Th e lack of clarity and increased administr ative burden for landlords here will also make students a less attractive tenant group.

12. In Scotland, where similar tenancy reforms were introduced in 2017, the rental housing market contracted by 12% between 2016 and early 2020 [1] . Some institutions estimate that the rental market contraction in their local area over the last two years has been as high as 20-25%.

Recommendations

1. A more detailed impact assessment should be conducted on this Bill, to include the impact of abolishing fixed-term tenancies for private rented student housing, using a direct reference to the outcomes of similar legislation implemented by the Scottish Government.

2. In the current legislation, Ground 4a should be extended to all properties let exclusively to students.

3. However, the best outcome for students long-term, ensuring a regular supply of affordable private rented housing, is that they are recognised as a distinct tenant class, and that the exemption from open-ended tenancy agreements as granted to Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) is extended to include all private rented accommodation let exclusively to students, including 1 and 2-bed flats.

a. There could be a cooling-off period to enable students to unilaterally cancel any tenancy signed up to 4 months before the tenancy began.

b. Student could be allowed to give 2 months’ notice within the fixed term period if they are unable to attend their educational institution or if they leave it during an academic year.

c. Mandatory licensing could be applied to all private rented student properties to deal with poor conditions.

29 October 2024.