Written evidence submitted by Mr Mark Tomlinson [RRS 071]

I am concerned that you are going to force Private Student Landlords from shorthold Tenancies to periodic Tenancies.

Our Tenancies run for a Year and coincide with the student academic Year at the moment if a tenant leaves within that Year they have to find a tenant to replace them after the Year (this is rarely a problem) we then give them an option to sign for another Year if they wish before we advertise again. What would be a problem is if they are allowed to end their contract in the middle of the Year for whatever reason it becomes impossible as a private landlord to replace the tenant, students can quite easily find a replacement within their circle of friends and Universities but wouldn’t bother doing this if they didn’t have to. We own different properties that range from 4 to 8 persons and because the tenants live as a group not individually, they can be very particular who they choose to live with. The shorthold agreements have worked for us for decades and is fair to both the student and the Landlord. Its difficult enough as it is these day finding tenants to fill our house and only have a window of about 3 months when all the students are house hunting and the competition can be fierce as the area, we are in is heavily populated with the big Landlords renting their properties with their fancy letting shops which we don’t have.

August 2022