This is part of a series of guidance about tenancy agreements provided for students.

Types of Tenancy

The type of tenancy agreement you will sign will depend largely upon your situation, and the main classification you need to be aware of is whether the tenancy is an Assured Shorthold Tenancy or not.

Assured Shorthold Tenancy

The Assured Shorthold Tenancy, or AST, is the most common type of tenancy in the private rented sector, and has evolved to be quite well balanced (previously tenancy law had swung between being heavily biased to either the landlord or the tenant).

Usually you will have no say in whether the tenancy is to be an AST or not – what makes an AST is defined in law, and if your tenancy meets those criteria it is an AST, and there’s not a lot the tenant or landlord can do to change it. However, it’s important to know when your tenancy might not be an AST, because in these cases your rights will be quite different.

Not Assured Shorthold Tenancy

The following are the most common examples of situations where your tenancy might fall outside of the definition of an AST:

Living with the landlord
HomeStay accommodation, which is living as a lodger in a landlord’s house, would not be covered by an AST. This also covers some other situations where it isn’t so clear, for example if the landlord has split his house into flats, and you rent one but he lives in another. In these situations the exact circumstances will decide whether your tenancy is an AST or not, so if in doubt, make sure you check.
Rent greater than £25 000 per annum
This is the rent for the whole tenancy, and works out at just over £2000 per month, so the condition could be met on some large shared houses.
None of the tenants occupying the property as their principal home
This condition covers, for example, situations where someone working in a city has their family home out of town, but rents a flat in the city to stay at on week nights, commuting home for the weekend (known as a pied-à-terre). In most cases, even if they will return to their parental address in vacation periods, the term-time rented property is considered students’ principal home for the purposes of this law.

If you think your tenancy might meet any of the above conditions it is particularly important that you have the agreement checked, since your rights will be substantially different from those provided by an AST. It will usually be what is known as a Non-Housing Act Tenancy, which means it is outside of the protection of the Housing Act 1988 – this Act provided some very important rights to tenants, so be careful if you might not be getting them.

Summary

  • Whether your tenancy is an Assured Shorthold Tenancy or not depends on the specifics of the situation.
  • If your tenancy is not an AST, it is even more important than usual to have the tenancy agreement checked out.

Pages in this Guide

This information is provided for general guidance only, and should not be considered to be definitive or legally binding in respect of any specific situation. If you have a specific query, you should contact your Student Advice Centre, or a Citizens’ Advice Bureau.

This guide is copyright LetsUni, and may not be reproduced without prior written permission.

Popular Pages