Many students rent accommodation from a private landlord. Depending on the type of tenancy you have, your rights and responsibilities will be different.
Assured shorthold tenancy
If the accommodation is self-contained (ie the landlord doesn’t live in the property with you) you most likely have an assured shorthold tenancy (AST), which can be short-term or long-term.
Under this type of Tenancy agreement, tenants are entitled to several rights regarding safety, property repairs and eviction. For more information about your rights as an assured shorthold tenant, read Tenant's rights.
Many students choose to share accommodation with other students. Various types of tenancy arrangements can exist, including:
- Joint tenancies: all students sign a single tenancy agreement, have equal rights and responsibilities in the property and pay an individual contribution towards the rent.
- Sole tenancies: each student has their own individual tenancy agreement with exclusive possession of a specific room, and pays rent individually. Failure to pay rent or eviction of one tenant doesn't affect other tenants' tenancies.
- Sole tenancy signed by one student: one student signs a tenancy agreement for the whole property and sublets rooms to other students as lodgers (provided the landlord agrees to it).
Students who share accommodation often live in houses in multiple occupation (HMO). If the property you live in is an HMO, your landlord has extra responsibilities and may need a licence for the property.
Sharing home with your landlord
Some students prefer to rent a room directly in the landlord's property. This type of housing arrangement is known as a Lodger agreement, whereby the occupier (known as a 'lodger) has their own room but shares common facilities (such as a kitchen and bathroom) with the landlord. As opposed to assured shorthold tenants, lodgers have limited rights in the property. For example, they don’t have exclusive use of the room and can be evicted at any time.
Deposit and guarantor
As a condition of letting accommodation to students, most private landlords ask for a deposit and require a third party to act as a guarantor for rent payments.
A guarantor is someone - usually a parent or close relative - who agrees to pay for your rent if you don't pay it. The guarantee agreement between the guarantor and the landlord must be in writing. In the case of joint tenancies shared by several students, it's common for the guarantee to apply to all of the rent.
As for the deposit, under an AST, it must be protected in a government-approved scheme, which ensures you’ll get your money back at the end of the tenancy. For more information about deposits, read Deposit protection schemes.