Assured Tenancy Agreements

(The Housing Act 1988 as amended)

Background:

The Housing Act received royal assent on 15th November 1988 after considerable debate, keeping Parliament occupied for a total of over 250 hours. The issues were at times bitterly contested by the opposition parties as the provisions laid down in the Act were far-reaching. The Rent Acts had for many years kept a firm stranglehold on rent levels and the general freedom of landlords. Part I of the new Act heralded a fresh and market-oriented approach to the legal relationship between landlord and tenant and, through the Assured Shorthold Tenancy, provided a means whereby the landlord could be certain of their right to repossess their property.

However, in 2025 labour Government have again provided further reform revoking the assured shorthold tenancy and reverting to an assured periodic tenancy providing more security for the tenant.  As a result of the introduction of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, tenancies created on or after 1^st May2026 will be assured periodic tenancies unless excluded from the Housing Act 1988.  Most existing assured and assured shorthold tenancies will transition over to an assured periodic tenancy from 1^st May 2026.  See Letting Factsheet No.18 for more information the Renters’ Rights Act 2025.

Familiarity with the essential requirements and provisions of the Housing Act 1988 is important to the property professional who is frequently called upon to draft letting agreements or amend standard forms.

Definition of an assured tenancy: 

An assured tenancy is defined as a tenancy under which a dwelling-house is let as a separate dwelling to the tenant, or joint tenants as an individual, where the tenant or at least one of the joint tenants occupies the dwelling-house as their only or principal home, and is a tenancy which is not excluded from being an assured tenancy (section 1(1) Housing Act 1988).

An assured tenancy is a type of residential tenancy which offers the tenant a degree of security of tenure. The landlord must use the section 8 procedure set out in the Housing Act 1988 to obtain possession of the property and can only do this if one of the possession grounds in Schedule 2 of the HA 1988 apply.  For example, where the tenant is in breach of the tenancy agreement or the landlord wishes to move back into the property or sell the property.  The assured tenancy is now the automatic or default form of tenancy for most residential tenancies.

Excluded tenancies:

Schedule 1 to the Housing Act 1988 sets out a number of important exclusions (i.e. tenancies that cannot be assured):