New student housing law sparks mixed reactions at Warwick and beyond

A new ban on landlords signing most student rental contracts before 1 March in the year the tenancy begins has been met with mixed reactions, including some praise but also concerns among those studying at Warwick and beyond. 

This change in legislation, which forms part of the new Renters’ Rights Act, is set to transform the way that student housing works in the UK.  

Rather than signing a legally binding contract weeks after starting the academic year, students will have months until they are even allowed to commit to a property, giving them more time to decide where they are going to live and who they are going to live with. 

The law aims to improve house hunting for all students, but particularly for first years who are put under pressure to sign for a second-year house just weeks after making the move to university. 

The changes should be helpful, especially for first years when deciding who to live with in second year, because there will be less of a rush before Christmas to find a house

Final year Warwick student

This change of legislation will apply to most student tenancies, as long as the house is let to three or more students and as long as those students are evicted from the house during the summer vacation period. The change is not set to affect rooms in purpose-built student accommodation, such as The Oaks or Vita Student.  

“The changes should be helpful, especially for first years when deciding who to live with in second year, because there will be less of a rush before Christmas to find a house,” a final year Warwick student told The Boar. 

The pre-Christmas ‘rush’ occurs because reasonably priced houses in prime locations are known to be snapped up quickly. If students wait too late to secure a property, then these desirable homes are often no longer available.  

Second year housing horror stories are, because of this rush, not uncommon. Students select their future housemates without knowing them for more than a couple of months and then, by the time they end up moving into their properties, almost a whole year later, their friends have often changed. This leaves them stuck with people that potentially they are no longer close to, or worse, no longer get along with at all.  

The government hopes that delaying contract signings until March will improve student mental health because individuals will have a greater knowledge of who they want to live with

By stopping landlords from signing most contracts before 1 March, the government aims to prevent students in all years from feeling as if they have to hurry to find a home and commit to renting it in the early stages of the academic year. 

However, the aforementioned Warwick student is concerned that “the fight for houses will just be delayed until March when it will be worse because, by then, everyone will have their groups and be readyto commit to a home”. 

A University of Bristol finalist made the same point, telling The Boar that the change “is impractical as people are going to be looking for houses at the exact same time, making it more intense and competitive”. 

Scepticism about the act is seemingly rife among those at university, with another Warwick studenttelling The Boar that they doubt the change “will make any difference” as “realistically there will be a way to reserve houses in some form earlier and then people will just legally sign contracts on 1 March”. 

In their opinion, it is theoretically a good idea but “loopholes will undermine the act”.  

In a perfect world, where no other reservation methods were to exist, the government hopes that delaying contract signings until March will improve student mental health because individuals will have a greater knowledge of who they want to live with and their preferred housing location by the time they choose their home for the following academic year. This should prevent housemate fallouts and discomfort from occurring when individuals eventually move into new homes. 

Finding a house is stressful as it is but now instead of students knowing they can get it over and done with in term one, they have to wait until term two, prolonging the stress which could impact their studies

Bristol student

Not all students, however, think that this approach will improve student welfare. One Loughborough second year told The Boar that they feel “stress and anxiety will increase because people won’t know where they are going to be living until later on than usual”.  

The aforementioned Bristol student also thinks that the change will cause anxiety for students.  

“Finding a house is stressful as it is but now instead of students knowing they can get it over and done with in term one, they have to wait until term two, prolonging the stress which could impact their studies,” they told The Boar. 

Another Warwick student echoed this sentiment, stating that the 1 March timing is “bad with Easter holidays and exams”. University term dates will mean that “you will either rush to sign a contract in the two weeks before you go home for the holidays or are stuck searching in term three when you have exams”. 

Evidently, while the government intends for this change in student housing legislation to ease pressure and improve welfare, many students believe it will do the opposite.  

Concerns that competition will intensify, stress will be prolonged, and loopholes will undermine the policy suggest that, in practice, the new legislation could cause further harm. Ultimately, however, the effectiveness of this measure on reshaping the world of student housing will only be revealed over time.