Check your housing status if you rent from a private landlord

If you rent from a private landlord, your rights depend on the type of rental agreement you have. This includes things like your right to get repairs done, stay in your home and get your deposit back.

A rental agreement is sometimes known as a ‘tenancy agreement’.

Some rental agreements will mean you’re a tenant - but there are some types of agreement that mean you’re not a tenant and you’ll have different rights.

Check if you rent from a private landlord

Some types of rental agreement will mean you’re not a private tenant and your rights will be more complicated. If you have one of these agreements, you should get help from your nearest Citizens Advice. For example, you won’t be a private tenant if your home is:

• a holiday let

• a Crown tenancy

• business premises

• arranged by your local council because you’re homeless

• let to you as part of your job

• let to you by an agricultural landlord - for example, if you rent a farm

Check what type of rental agreement you have

The type of rental agreement you have depends on when it started. You don’t have to have a written contract to have a valid agreement - you might have agreed it verbally with your landlord.

The date your agreement started might be in your written contract if you have one. If not, it will be the date you agreed the rental agreement - this could be earlier than the day you agreed to move in.

Even if you have a written contract that says you have a certain type of agreement, you should still check what type of agreement you have. It might be different to what your written contract says - this means you might have more rights.

Most rental agreements are 'assured tenancies'.

If your agreement started on or after 1 May 2026, you have an assured tenancy if all the following apply:

• you pay rent to a private landlord - and it’s more than £250 a year, or more than £1,000 in Greater London

• you don’t live in the same building as your landlord - and they don’t need to enter your room to provide services, like cleaning

• you have at least 1 room that only you and your family can use - and you don’t have to share with anyone else

• you have the right to rent in the UK

• you don’t have a lease with a fixed term of 21 years or more

• you aren’t a student living in halls of residence who pays rent to a university

• you aren’t a student paying rent to a private landlord who signed up to the ‘ANUK Unipol National Code of Standards’ - check if your landlord signed up to ANUK Unipol Code on the National Code website

You’ll also have an assured tenancy if someone gave theirs to you or you inherited it from someone who died.

If your agreement started before 1 May 2026

Start by checking what type of agreement you had when it started. If it was an ‘assured shorthold tenancy’ (AST) it might have changed into an assured tenancy on 1 May 2026.

You had an AST if it started after 28 February 1997 and all of this applies:

• you paid rent to a private landlord and it was more than £250 a year, or more than £1,000 in Greater London

• you didn’t live in the same building as your landlord - and they didn’t need to enter your room to provide services, like cleaning

• you had at least 1 room that only you and your family can use - and you didn’t have to share with anyone else

• you had the right to rent in the UK

• you didn’t have a lease with a fixed term of 21 years or more

• you weren’t a student living in halls of residence who paid rent to a university

If you’re a student paying rent to a private landlord who signed up to a code of practice called the ‘ANUK Unipol National Code of Standards’, you're an occupier with basic protection. If you’re an occupier with basic protection, you have fewer rights than most tenants.

You can:

• check if your landlord signed up to ANUK Unipol National Code of Standards on the National Code website

• check your rights if you’re an occupier with basic protection

If your tenancy started between 15 January 1989 and 28 February 1997, the situation is more complicated - you should get advice.

If it started before 15 January 1989, you might have a ‘protected tenancy’. This means you might have better housing rights than other tenants.

If you help working out what tenancy you had, talk to an adviser.

If you had an AST, it changed and became an assured tenancy on 1 May 2026. There’s an exception if your landlord gave you a valid section 21 or section 8 notice before 1 May 2026.

If you had an AST and your landlord gave you a section 21 or section 8 notice before 1 May 2026

You should first check if your eviction notice was valid. You can:

• check if your section 8 notice was valid

• check if your section 21 notice was valid

If your notice wasn't valid, your AST became an assured tenancy on 1 May 2026.

If your notice was valid, your tenancy stayed as an AST after 1 May 2026.

Your landlord must go to court to evict you by the end of July 2026. This must also be within 6 months of them giving you a section 21 notice - or within usually 12 months of them giving you a section 8 notice.

Your AST immediately becomes an assured tenancy if your landlord does any of the following:

• doesn’t go to court by this deadline

• goes to court in time, but their claim is dismissed

• withdraws the notice

Situations when you won’t have an assured tenancy

In some situations you’ll have a different type of housing status.

If you’re a student

You’re an occupier with basic protection if one of the following applies:

• you live in a halls of residence and pay rent to your university - check our advice on living in university accommodation.

• you pay rent to a private landlord who signed up to a code of practice called the ‘ANUK Unipol National Code of Standards’

Check your rights if you’re an occupier with basic protection.

If you’re a student but you pay rent to a private landlord or their agent who hasn’t signed up to the ANUK Unipol National Code, you’ll probably be an assured tenant.

You can check if your landlord signed up to ANUK Unipol Code on the National Code website.

If you live in the same building as your landlord

You’re a lodger if you live with your landlord and you either:

• share ‘living space’ with them - for example a kitchen, living room or bathroom

• don’t share living space with them but share other spaces like corridors or stairs - for example if you live in your landlord's converted garage

Check your rights as a lodger.

You’ll probably be an assured tenant if one of the following applies:

• you and your landlord have separate flats in a purpose-built block of flats

• your landlord has another home where they lived most of the time

• your landlord has moved out and doesn’t plan to return

If you pay no rent or low rent

You’ll be an excluded occupier if:

• you don’t pay rent

• your agreement started on or after 1 April 1990 and your rent is less than £250 a year (£1,000 in Greater London)

Check your rights if you’re an excluded occupier.

If you agree to provide services like cleaning or childcare to your landlord instead of paying rent, you might be an occupier with basic protection. Check your rights if you’re an occupier with basic protection.

If your landlord provides services for you

If your landlord needs to go into your room to provide services like cleaning or laundry, you’ll probably be an occupier with basic protection. Check your rights if you’re an occupier with basic protection.

If you have a tenancy with a long lease

If you have a tenancy with a fixed term of 7 to 21 years, you’re probably an occupier with basic protection. Check your rights if you’re an occupier with basic protection.

The tenancy must have started before 27 December 2025. If it started after that date, it’s an assured tenancy without a fixed term.

If you have a tenancy with a fixed term of more than 21 years, you’re a leaseholder - for example if you bought a flat in a block of flats.

If you don’t have the right to rent in the UK

If the Home Office has given your landlord notice that you don’t have a right to rent because of your immigration status, you’ll be an excluded occupier. If you’re not sure, talk to an adviser.

If you took over a rental agreement from someone else

You’ll probably have the same type of rental agreement as the person who you took it over from - you’ll need to check what type of agreement they had.

This might have happened if:

• you inherited a tenancy from someone who died - this is known as ‘succeeding’ to the tenancy

• someone gave you the tenancy - this is known as having a tenancy ‘assigned’ to you

If you’re still not sure what type of agreement it is, talk to an adviser.