Anti-landlord reforms will stop students going to university, ministers warned

Making all tenancies open-ended will bring an ‘inevitable’ reduction in student housing

More students will be unable to go to university if the Government presses ahead with rental sector reforms amid a chronic shortage of student housing, universities have warned.

In an open letter to the Government, universities, student accommodation providers and landlords said plans to make all tenancies open-ended would bring an “inevitable” reduction in the supply of student housing and in turn will reduce the number of students institutions can accept.

The letter was signed by Vivienne Stern, the chief executive of Universities UK, which represents 140 universities across the country, as well as the heads of accommodation services at six universities, including the University of Cambridge.

The move follows successive warnings from landlords that the Government’s plans to make all tenancy agreements rolling contracts will make it impossible to guarantee that student accommodation will be available for the start of each academic year.

In his June white paper, titled “A fairer private rented sector”, housing secretary Michael Gove outlined proposals to get rid of assured shorthold tenancy agreements and Section 21 “no-fault” evictions.

While these measures will give renters much greater protection across the rental market, landlords have warned they will cause chaos in the student housing sector, where properties are typically leased only for one academic year at a time.

The white paper allowed that purpose-built student accommodation – which is built and managed by institutions – would be exempt, to allow for the fact that most students move at the end of each academic year. But it stated that this exemption would not apply to privately-owned student homes.

Landlords and universities urged the Government to extend the exemption to the private student rental sector and allow student landlords to evict tenants with two months’ notice to ensure the sector could continue to function.

“A shortage of this accommodation has already led some academic institutions to call for a limit to be placed on student intakes for as long as the next five years,” the letter warned.

“The proposed introduction of open-ended tenancies and inevitable reduction in housing supply is therefore likely to further constrain the expansion of the education sector, to the detriment of prospective students and wider society."

Last autumn, Glasgow University told students to defer their places because of a lack of student accommodation.

Having different standards for the PBSA will penalise less well-off students as private student housing is typically cheaper than that which is purpose-built, the letter added.

Other signatories included Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, a landlord trade body, and Melanie Leech, chief executive of the British Property Federation, an investment group.

A Government spokesman said: “This government is absolutely committed to delivering a fairer deal for renters.

“We will bring forward a Renters Reform Bill in this Parliament, abolishing ‘no fault evictions’ so that all tenants – including university students – have greater security in their homes and are empowered to challenge poor conditions and unreasonable rent rises. The Government continues to engage with stakeholders across the private rented sector including landlords and students.”

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