Assured Tenancies
Through the introduction of assured and assured shorthold tenancies, the Housing Act 1988 aided the ending of the lengthy decline in the private rented housing market which had occurred post-war. Levels of rent and the freedom of landlords had been tightly constrained by the Rent Acts, but assured and assured shorthold tenancies have restored a significant degree of control to landlords.
The assured shorthold tenancy became the default tenancy from 28th February 1997 until 30th April 2026 and has been widely used by the industry for over 25 years. Assured shorthold tenancies were designed to encourage short term letting at a time when the risks of letting and the difficulties of recovering possession caused many landlords to be reluctant to let property. They allowed the landlord to let their property for only a short time, and to automatically recover it after six months if they chose to. Consequently, it did not offer much protection to the tenant after the first six months of their tenancy.
There has now been a complete reform of the private rented sector under the introduction of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 and assured shorthold tenancies have now been abolished. Since 1st May 2026 the default assured tenancy is an assured periodic tenancy.
Under an assured tenancy the tenant has security of tenure, but the landlord is able to charge a market rent and to regain possession according to certain grounds that are laid out in the Housing Act 1988. There are some exemptions where a tenancy will not be an assured tenancy and will operate outside of the Housing Act 1988, these include:
- the tenancy began before 15th January 1989
- it is a letting to a company (because an assured tenant must be an individual)
- it is a business or holiday let
- no rent or very low rent is charged
- the rent charged is very high (currently over £100,000 per year)
- the landlord is a resident landlord
- the dwelling house is let with over two acres of agricultural land
- the tenancy is an agricultural holding or occupancy
See Schedule 1 Housing Act 1988 for a full list of exclusions.
If a landlord requires possession of their property under an assured tenancy they will need to serve notice on the tenant relying on one of the grounds set out in Schedule 2 Housing Act 1988. A tenant may give notice to end an assured periodic tenancy, generally two months unless a shorter period has been agreed between the parties. See ‘Possession‘ topic page for more information.