Tenancies that cannot be assured

An assured tenant has long term security. The tenant can stay in the property indefinitely, unless the landlord proves a ground for possession and obtains a possession order from the court.

Most private and housing association tenants have an assured tenancy.

Find out more about assured tenancies.

Some types of occupancy cannot be assured.[1] The occupier has a different security of tenure. This includes where:

• the landlord is a local authority

• the occupier has a resident landlord

• the tenancy started before 15 January 1989

A local authority cannot issue an assured tenancy.[2] Most local authority tenants have a secure tenancy.

Find out more about secure tenancies.

A tenancy cannot be assured if it is granted by:[3]

• the Commission for New Towns

• the Development Board for Rural Wales

• urban development corporations

• development corporations

• waste disposal authorities

• residuary bodies

• fully mutual housing associations

• housing action trusts

Tenancies where the interest in the land belongs to the Crown or a government department cannot be assured.[4]

Tenants of the Duchy of Lancaster or the Duchy of Cornwall are not Crown tenants. Both Duchies can grant assured tenancies.

A tenancy can be assured if either:[5]

• the interest is managed by the Crown Estate Commissioners

• it is a letting on or after 1 April 1991 by health authorities and NHS trusts

Where the Crown Estate Commissioners transferred its housing stock to a housing association on or after 15 January 1989, tenants who were regulated tenants became assured tenants of the housing association.[6]

Most private tenancies that started before 15 January 1989 are regulated tenancies.

Private tenancies that started before 15 January 1989 cannot be assured, unless they are either:[7]

• assured tenancies created by the Housing Act 1980 which the Housing Act 1988 converted into new assured tenancies[8]

• tenancies transferred from the public sector to another landlord under Parts 3 and 4 of the Housing Act 1988 which become assured tenancies on transfer[9]

Find out more about regulated tenants.

New tenancy granted to existing regulated tenant

A regulated tenancy can be granted after 15 January 1989 where it is granted to an existing regulated tenant.[10]

Immediately before the new tenancy is granted, the tenant must have been a regulated tenant of the landlord granting the new tenancy. The tenant, or at least one of the joint tenants, must have been a regulated tenant before 15 January 1989.[11]

The tenancy does not have to be for the same property.[12]

Offer of suitable alternative accommodation to regulated tenant

When a regulated tenant is evicted on the basis that suitable alternative accommodation is available to them, the court can direct that the alternative accommodation is let under a regulated tenancy.

Find out more about regulated tenancy grounds for possession.

A tenancy granted by a resident landlord cannot be assured.[13]

Who is a resident landlord

The landlord granting the tenancy must be an individual, not a company. They must have occupied, and continue to occupy throughout the tenancy, the property as their only or principal home.

Periods of non-residence are allowable following the death of the landlord or the sale of the premises.[14]

Where the landlord changes, the new landlord must be an individual and continue to occupy the property as their only or principal home.

Occupier lives in a flat

A landlord is not resident if the occupier and the landlord occupy two different flats in a purpose-built block of flats. Where the landlord and occupier occupy different parts of the same flat in a purpose-built block, the landlord is resident.

A landlord is resident if the occupier and the landlord occupy two different flats in a building that is not a purpose-built block of flats. For example, flats in a converted house.

Occupier shares living accommodation with landlord

A person sharing living accommodation, such as a kitchen and bathroom, with their landlord is usually an excluded occupier. An excluded occupier can be evicted without a court order.

Find out more about excluded occupiers.

Sham tenancy agreements

A landlord might use a sham agreement to suggest the tenant has fewer housing rights than they have in law. A lodger agreement could be a sham agreement if the landlord is not resident in the property immediately before the agreement starts and when it ends.

Find out more about sham tenancy agreements.

When a local authority carries out its homelessness functions, it can secure a tenancy for a homeless applicant with a private landlord. Accommodation is not assured when it is:[15]

• interim accommodation pending inquiries

• temporary accommodation under the main homelessness duty where it is the same as interim accommodation provided pending inquiries

• temporary accommodation where the applicant is being referred to another authority

• temporary accommodation to an applicant who has been found to be intentionally homeless

• temporary accommodation provided under the authority’s discretionary power pending a homelessness review or appeal

This accommodation secured by the local authority can become assured or assured shorthold where 12 months have passed since the:[16]

• local authority made its decision on the homelessness application

• decision on review or an appeal was finally determined

It can also be assured or assured shorthold if the landlord serves notice on the tenant that the tenancy is assured or assured shorthold.[17]

Find out more about homelessness applications.

A private tenancy granted for the provision of support for asylum seekers or their dependants under part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 cannot be assured.[18] This includes accommodation provided under UKVI support.

Find out more about UKVI accommodation.

Most lettings of agricultural land or agricultural holdings cannot be assured tenancies.[19]

Some agricultural workers occupy accommodation as a condition of their employment. The accommodation is tied to their work. These occupiers might have an assured agricultural occupancy.

Find out more about agricultural occupancies.

Some student lettings cannot be assured tenancies.

Accommodation provided by educational institutions

A student letting which cannot be an assured tenancy includes a tenancy:[20]

• provided by a specified educational institution

• granted to someone who is pursuing or intends to pursue a full or part time course

Specified educational institutions include universities.

Purpose built student accommodation

A student letting which cannot be an assured tenancy includes a tenancy granted by a specified accommodation provider who is a member of a housing management code of practice.[21]

This includes the ANUK/Unipol Code of standard for larger developments applicable from 1 May 2026 to purpose built student accommodation (PBSA) which meets certain requirements.[22]

A tenancy for purpose built student accommodation which began before 1 May 2026 is not exempt from being an assured tenancy. Assured shorthold tenants in PBSA became assured tenants on 1 May 2026, unless the landlord served a valid section 8 or section 21 notice before this date.

Find out more about section 21 notices for assured shorthold tenancies.

A tenancy cannot be assured where its purpose is to give the tenant the right to occupy for a holiday.[23]

A landlord might describe accommodation as a holiday let to claim that someone does not have a tenancy. This is sometimes known as a sham agreement. Find out more about sham tenancy agreements.

A tenancy is not assured where the annual rent is:[24]

• more than £100,000

• £1,000 or less in Greater London, or £250 or less elsewhere

Payments made towards council tax, repairs, maintenance, management, services and insurance are disregarded when determining the rent amount.[25]

Tenancies can fall in and out of assured status if rent increases or reductions take the rent above or below the low or high rent levels below.

Tenancy started before 1 April 1990

For tenancies entered into before 1 April 1990, the tenancy is not assured if:

• there is no rent or where the rent is less than two-thirds of the rateable value on 31 March 1990[26]

• the rateable value on 31 March 1990 was higher than £1,500 in Greater London or £750 elsewhere[27]

Information about rateable values is available from the local authority.

A tenancy cannot be assured where the property is occupied for the purpose of a business.[28] The business use must be a significant reason for occupation rather than incidental.[29]

Home business tenancy

This applies to assured tenancies created on or after 1 October 2015.

Where the landlord consents to a home business, the tenancy is a home business tenancy and retains assured tenancy status.[30] A home business is one that can be reasonably done at home, such as internet businesses or advertising copywriting.[31]

Licensed premises

A tenancy cannot be assured if it includes premises licensed to sell alcohol for consumption on the premises.[32]

A tenancy of a room or flat above a pub might not fall within this exception, so the tenant could have an assured tenancy.

A tenancy with a fixed term of more than 21 years cannot be an assured tenancy.[33] This is the case regardless of when the tenancy started.

Fixed term between 7 and 21 years granted before 27 December 2025

A fixed term tenancy cannot be assured where:[34]

• it has a term less than 21 years but more than 7 years, and

• it was entered into before 27 December 2025

This includes tenancies that started after 27 December 2025 but where the contract was entered into before this date.

Section 8 notice served before 27 December 2025

Where a landlord served a valid section 8 notice before 27 December 2025, a long fixed term assured tenancy remains assured until possession proceedings are concluded or time-barred.[35]

A tenancy cannot be assured if it forms part of a regulated home purchase plan when it is granted.[36]

A regulated home purchase plan is defined in 63F(3)(a) Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001. It allows a person to buy a house without an interest-based mortgage.