Canterbury Landlord Compliance 2026 — Renters' Rights Act, HMO Licensing and Student Let Obligations

Renters' Rights Act 2025 — England-wide obligations from 1 May 2026

Regardless of which part of the Canterbury City Council area your property is in, the following apply to all private landlords in England from 1 May 2026:

• Section 21 abolished: No-fault eviction notices issued on or after 1 May 2026 are unlawful. All new tenancies are Periodic Assured Tenancies (PATs). Possession requires a valid Section 8 ground
• New Ground 4A — student HMO end-of-year possession: The RRA 2025 introduces a new mandatory possession ground (Ground 4A) specifically for HMOs let entirely to full-time students. It allows the landlord to recover possession at the end of the academic year. This is the replacement for fixed-term ASTs in the student HMO market — Canterbury landlords who previously relied on fixed-term ASTs to align with the academic year must now use this ground
• Information Sheet obligation: All landlords with existing tenancies on 1 May 2026 must have delivered the official Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet to every named tenant by 31 May 2026. Penalty: up to £7,000 per tenancy
• Awaab's Law in force: Mandatory statutory timeframes for responding to, investigating, and repairing damp, mould, and other HHSRS hazards
• Pet request right: Tenants on PATs have the right to request a pet. Landlords must respond in writing within 42 days
• Bidding-war ban: Landlords may not invite, encourage, or accept offers above the advertised rent. Canterbury student landlords must set the rent they will accept, not a starting-bid price
• Civil penalties up to £40,000: Enforced by Canterbury City Council's housing team

Canterbury City Council HMO licensing — what Canterbury landlords must hold

Canterbury City Council operates both mandatory and additional HMO licensing. Canterbury has been active in enforcing HMO standards in student areas:

• Mandatory HMO licensing (nationwide): Any property let to 5 or more people forming 2 or more households as their only or main residence requires a mandatory HMO licence under the Housing Act 2004. This covers the majority of larger student houses in Canterbury
• Canterbury City Council additional HMO licensing: Canterbury operates an additional HMO licensing scheme that extends licensing to smaller HMOs below the mandatory threshold. Check the Canterbury City Council website for the current designation areas — the additional licensing covers parts of the city with high HMO density around the university campuses
• Licence conditions: Canterbury HMO licences carry conditions on minimum room sizes, fire safety installations (interlinked smoke and heat alarms, fire doors in specified locations, emergency lighting), gas and electrical safety, and management responsibilities
• Unlicensed HMOs: Operating an unlicensed HMO is a criminal offence. Unlimited fine on conviction. The tenant(s) can also seek a Rent Repayment Order for up to 12 months' rent
• Application lead times: Canterbury City Council HMO licence applications can take several months to process. Apply well before expiry or before creating a new HMO

Ground 4A — student HMO possession under the Renters' Rights Act 2025

Ground 4A is a new mandatory possession ground introduced by the Renters' Rights Act 2025 specifically for HMO student landlords in Canterbury and across England. It is the key replacement for fixed-term AST tenancies in the student market:

• Who can use it: The landlord of an HMO let entirely to full-time students at an educational establishment — this covers student houses let to University of Kent, Canterbury Christ Church, or UCA students
• When it applies: Ground 4A can only be used at the end of the academic year. Notices must be timed to expire on the last day of the academic year
• Notice period: 4 months' notice required. For a standard academic year end of 30 June, the earliest a notice can be served is late February
• Why it matters: Before 1 May 2026, Canterbury student landlords could use fixed-term ASTs that expired at the end of June to align tenancy endings with the academic year. From 1 May 2026, fixed-term ASTs are abolished. Ground 4A is the statutory replacement mechanism
• Conditions: The property must be an HMO, and all tenants must be full-time students. Mixed tenancies (including one non-student) will not qualify
• Evidence required: You will need to be able to confirm at the Section 8 hearing that all occupants were full-time students at the time the notice was served

Awaab's Law and Canterbury's older housing stock

Canterbury and surrounding villages contain significant amounts of older housing — Victorian and Edwardian terraces and converted buildings — that are prone to damp and mould. Awaab's Law now applies in the private rented sector.

• Statutory timeframes apply from 1 May 2026: Acknowledge damp and mould reports in writing, inspect within the statutory investigation period, and repair within the statutory repair period
• Canterbury City Council enforcement: The council's housing team enforces the HHSRS and Awaab's Law obligations. Canterbury has actively issued improvement notices and prohibition orders in the student HMO sector
• HMO licence conditions: Canterbury HMO licence conditions require properties to be free of Category 1 HHSRS hazards. A damp enforcement action can trigger a licence review
• Document all repairs: A written repair log — noting every tenant report, inspection date, findings, and works completion — is essential both for enforcement defence and for licence compliance

Section 8 possession in Canterbury — 2026 changes

Possession claims for Canterbury properties are heard at Canterbury County Court. The revised Section 8 grounds are now the only route to possession for assured periodic tenancies:

• Ground 4A (student HMO end-of-year): Mandatory. 4 months' notice. Entire HMO must be let to full-time students. See the Ground 4A section above for detail
• Ground 8 (serious rent arrears): 3 months' arrears at notice date and hearing date. Mandatory
• Ground 14 (anti-social behaviour): Zero notice period. Discretionary. Maintain a contemporaneous ASB log
• Ground 1A (landlord intends to sell): 4 months' notice. Cannot be used in the first 12 months of the tenancy. Information Sheet must have been served before the notice
• Ground 6A (building safety remediation): Mandatory. Relevant where a building safety remediation order applies under the Building Safety Act 2022 — may affect Canterbury's older multi-occupied buildings subject to BSA 2022 orders

2026 Canterbury landlord compliance checklist

Use this as a quick reference. Each item is a legal obligation:

• HMO licensing: hold a valid mandatory and/or additional HMO licence from Canterbury City Council if required
• New tenancy agreements from 1 May 2026: use a Periodic Assured Tenancy Agreement — not a fixed-term AST
• Student lets: use Ground 4A rather than fixed-term tenancies to manage academic-year occupancy
• Information Sheet: serve the Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet on all existing tenants (deadline was 31 May 2026 — serve immediately if not done)
• Gas Safety Certificate: valid GSC annually; must be provided to tenants before and throughout the tenancy
• EICR: current within 5 years; required before any new tenancy
• EPC: minimum E rating; valid certificate must be in place
• Deposit protection: protect and provide Prescribed Information within 30 days of receipt
• Right to Rent: check all adult occupants before tenancy start
• Smoke and CO alarms: interlinked alarms as required by HMO licence conditions; CO alarm in every room with a combustion appliance
• Awaab's Law: maintain a written hazard and repair log

Frequently asked questions