UK Renters' Rights Act Lets Students Exit Leases Early, Rents May Rise

England's Renters' Rights Act, in force since May, lets student tenants end a signed lease with two months' notice instead of being locked in for a full academic year — a change landlords say will push up rents for the students who stay, BBC News reported Oct. 25.

The law ended fixed-term tenancies across England's private rental market. Properties now run on a rolling basis, with rent paid weekly or monthly and no fixed end date, according to the BBC. University-owned halls of residence and Purpose-Built Student Accommodation are exempt and can still issue fixed-term contracts, so the change applies mainly to students renting from private landlords.

How did one student use the new notice rules?

Eddie Lever, 20, had already signed a tenancy for his second year at the University of Exeter when he decided to transfer to the University of York to study international relations, the BBC reported. Under the old system he would have been bound to the contract for the full year. Under the new rules, he gave two months' notice and stopped paying rent.

"If the Renters' Rights Act wasn't a thing, I don't think I would have been able to move universities because I would have been locked into the full [year] contract," Lever told the BBC. "It would have made it unaffordable."

Because Lever was on a joint tenancy, his departure technically ended the agreement for the whole house. A friend looking for a room took his place, letting his former housemates sign a new tenancy, the BBC reported. Lever acknowledged the outcome could have been harder for his housemates without a replacement tenant ready to step in. He said the trade-off is still worth it: "If you were to fall out with your flatmates or if you decide that university is not for you, being locked into a full-term contract can be really prohibitive financially. So without that flexibility, people can really be locked into situations that they don't necessarily want to be in."

Why are landlords warning about rents?

The same flexibility that let Lever leave is the source of the warning from student landlords cited in the BBC's reporting: tenants can now exit mid-contract more easily, and landlords say the resulting turnover and vacancy risk could translate into higher rents for the students who remain. The BBC's reporting frames the law as prompting a broader shake-up of the student rental market, posing challenges for landlords who previously relied on full-year contracts signed before term began.

What do student groups say about the trade-off?

Lewis Wilson, vice president for higher education at the National Union of Students, said the new flexibility also lets students save money by moving out for the summer rather than paying rent on properties they are not using, according to the BBC. Many student contracts previously ran into the summer after courses ended even when students had already left the property, the BBC reported.

Wilson pointed to a second provision in the act that applies across the private rental sector: landlords in England can no longer evict tenants without a stated reason. Campaigners argue that change gives renters, including students, more security and confidence to assert their rights, the BBC reported.

How did the rules change, and when?

• April 30, 2026 — Government guidance on what the Renters' Rights Act means for tenants and landlords was published, per BBC coverage referenced in the Oct. 25 report.
• May 2026 — The act took effect, ending fixed-term tenancies for most private renters in England and shifting contracts to a rolling, no-fixed-end-date basis.
• Oct. 25, 2026 — BBC News reported on the law's early effects on the student market, contrasting student accounts of new freedom with landlord warnings on rent.

What to watch next

• Whether landlords serving student markets raise rents broadly to offset turnover risk, as warned in the BBC's reporting, or whether competition keeps prices in check.
• How joint tenancies are handled when one tenant in a shared house gives notice and no replacement is found.
• Whether Purpose-Built Student Accommodation providers, which remain exempt from the rolling-tenancy rules, gain market share from private landlords adjusting to the new terms.
• Whether more students follow Eddie Lever's path and use the two-month notice period to leave for financial or academic reasons rather than staying locked into a full year.

The BBC's reporting does not include a specific rent figure from landlords, and no landlord was quoted by name describing the scale of expected increases. The full picture of how rents respond will depend on data from the 2026–27 letting cycle, which was still unfolding at the time of the BBC's report.

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