Purpose-Built Student Accommodation - ending student tenancies: consultation

Consultation

During the passage of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025^[5], the issue of ending tenancies in PBSA was further considered, with amendments lodged to provide for such tenants to be able to give notice to end their tenancies. It was accepted that providing for tenancies in PBSA to be ended for any or no reason would have a negative impact on the current business model, potentially leading to tenancy voids or vacancies which would be difficult to fill once the academic year had started. As rental cost calculations include projected occupancy rates, these voids could lead to increased tenancy costs for students in an attempt to take account of possible vacancies. In addition, responses to the surveys mentioned above, and correspondence from the PBSA sector indicated that allowing tenants to end their tenancies for any or no reason would impact on investment in the sector, and therefore on the supply of accommodation for students.

This needed to be balanced with those occasions where tenants need to be able to end their tenancies due to certain circumstances. The previous survey responses indicated that such applications to end tenancies were considered on a case by case basis and were often agreed. However, there was no consistency across providers and this led to different outcomes for students depending on which company provided the accommodation.

The Scottish Government recognises that a balance requires to be struck between the need for student tenants to be able to end their tenancies in certain circumstances, and the potential impact of this on the PBSA sector. To address this and to provide transparency and consistency for student tenants and landlords, provision was included in section 45 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 for the Scottish Ministers to make regulations which would enable a student tenant in PBSA to end their tenancy in certain circumstances, and where any requirements set out in the regulations are satisfied.

In this consultation, we ask you to consider:

• the circumstances under which you think a student residential tenancy should be able to be ended;
• the evidence you think might reasonably be requested by a property provider when a tenant wants to end their tenancy;
• the process to be followed when a tenant is requesting to end their tenancy ; and
• what the process should be for tenants to challenge any refusal of their request to end their tenancy.

The circumstances

The Scottish Government recognises that some student tenants may need to end their tenancies. Currently, many PBSA providers, both institutional and private, consider these requests on a case by case basis. To ensure greater consistency, we intend to specify the circumstances in which requests to end tenancies should be agreed (provided the necessary evidence is provided – see below). The suggested circumstances have been drawn from responses to the recent surveys, from correspondence received from the PBSA sector and student representative groups and from reports such as “Towards a Student Accommodation Strategy for Scotland^[6]”. These circumstances are:

• Close family bereavement
• Health issues requiring a return to the family home / hospitalisation / rehabilitation
• National emergency or incident leading to cessation of teaching provision
• Student is no longer matriculated, e.g. has withdrawn from university / changed to a university in another area / has been expelled
• Serious risk to the health or safety of the student – e.g. has been subject to gender based violence, domestic abuse
• Revocation of visa

The evidence

Unlike in the PRS, tenancy agreements in PBSA are time-limited. The student tenant is contractually obliged to pay rental costs for the entire tenancy period regardless of whether they remain in that tenancy, as there is currently no legislative basis for the student to end the tenancy. While the proposed regulations will change this situation, allowing tenancies to be ended in specific circumstances, the regulations will also allow for processes to be introduced to ensure against possible abuse of that system. As such, when notice to end a tenancy is submitted to the landlord, the student tenant may also be required to provide supporting evidence of the circumstances under which the tenancy is to be ended. This evidence could include, for example, letters from a medical professional such as a GP, confirmation from university or college support services, police reports.

The process

In developing the proposed process for giving notice to end a tenancy in PBSA, we first looked at the process in the PRS. This requires notice to be provided in writing, at least 28 days before the day the tenant quits the tenancy. However, tenancies in the PRS can be ended for any or no reason. As has already been referred to in this consultation document, a balance is required between the legitimate need of some students to end their tenancies against the impact on the providers. As such, the proposed process for a student tenant to end their tenancy will need to be designed in a manner which allows sufficient time for further evidence requests. While 28 days will be the minimum time required in order to end a tenancy, if insufficient information or evidence is provided, we propose that the accommodation provider should be able to request such information or evidence. We propose that up to an additional 20 days is to be allowed for this, effectively pausing progress toward the notice deadline until any requested information or evidence has been provided. This would potentially extend the period between provision of the initial notice to the end of the tenancy from 28 days to a maximum of 48 days.

The proposed process is detailed below:

1. Tenant provides landlord with notice of intention to end the tenancy on a specific date to be no sooner than 28 days from the date this notice is provided, giving details of the circumstances under which the tenancy is to be ended and providing any required information or evidence.

2. Landlord acknowledges notice of intention within 7 days and either:

• 1. Confirms date of termination, or
• 2. Requests further information or evidence in respect of the circumstances referred to in the notice, or
• 3. Denies the request to end the tenancy on the basis that the circumstances for ending the tenancy are not included in the regulations.

Where further information has been requested:

3. Tenant submits the further information or evidence required within 10 days.

4. Where the information or evidence is not provided within this timescale, a reminder will be issued and a further 10 days allowed for the provision of the information or evidence.

5. If the further information or evidence is not received within the specified timescales, the notice to end the tenancy will be considered withdrawn.

6. On receipt of the information or evidence, the landlord will consider it and either:

• 1. Confirm the date of termination, or
• 2. Deny the request to end the tenancy on the basis that the evidence provided to support the circumstances under which notice has been given is not specified in the regulations.

Challenging a decision

Initial discussions suggested that there should be the ability for student tenants to challenge the decision of an accommodation provider not to confirm the end of a tenancy. While using current complaints processes may be an option, this could be problematic as private PBSA and institutional PBSA currently follow different complaint processes. As such, we are seeking views on what the process should be for challenging a decision.