Student landlords are being advised to re-evaluate their tenancy agreements for 2027, as a single student's notice can now terminate a periodic joint tenancy for an entire household. This is not a new legal principle, but its importance has increased because assured student tenancies are now periodic rather than fixed term.
Previously, a student leaving a fixed-term joint tenancy would remain liable, incentivising the group to find a replacement. Now, one student can end the whole joint tenancy, creating a new challenge for landlords.
Landlords face a choice between the administrative simplicity of a joint tenancy and the potential for one tenant to end the agreement for all, or the increased management of individual room-by-room tenancies. Individual tenancies mean managing each letting separately and potentially finding replacements for single rooms within an established household.
Before changing their letting model, landlords should verify that any proposed arrangement aligns with their mortgage and insurance terms. The decision on whether to use joint or individual tenancies should be made on a property-by-property basis, considering the specific risks involved.