Termly rent ended for student HMOs in England under the Renters' Rights Act: rent periods must be monthly or shorter, and once the agreement is signed you can take at most one month's rent before move-in. Students can still choose to pay early, but you can't require it. The practical setup is a direct debit mandate signed before move-in, the first month taken after signing, and twelve monthly payments scheduled per student from day one.
In this article
The short version
- Rent periods must now be monthly or shorter, and you can take at most one month's rent between signing and move-in, with no general exception for student HMOs.
- A student can still choose to pay a term early when their loan arrives, but your schedule should assume monthly payments.
- To keep Ground 4A available, sign the group less than six months before move-in, which for a 1 September start means early March at the earliest.
- Give each student their own payment schedule, send the mandate request with the tenancy agreement, take the first month by card or pay by bank and start the direct debit from the second.
- Contact the student and guarantor in the first month of any arrears, and check with your adviser that guarantor deeds written for termly rent cover monthly payments.
What the rules now allow for student lets
A five-bed house that used to bring in three termly payments per student now brings in twelve monthly ones each, sixty a year instead of fifteen. These rules have been in force since 1 May 2026, with no general exception for students in ordinary HMOs.
You can't take termly rent any more. Rent periods have to be monthly or 28 days or shorter, and a termly period that was running on 1 May 2026 moved to monthly when it ended.
No rent can be taken until the tenancy agreement is signed, so payment requests wait for signatures, not the viewing or the offer.
Between signing and move-in, the limit is one month's rent.
Once the tenancy starts, a clause demanding rent in advance has no force. A student who wants to pay a term at once when their loan arrives can still choose to, and you can accept it, but your schedule should assume monthly payments.
When to sign next year's group
If you want to be able to get the house back each summer for the next group, the tenancy needs to qualify for Ground 4A. All of these have to be true:
- Every tenant was a full-time student when they signed, or you expected them to become one during the tenancy.
- The property is an HMO, or part of one.
- You gave written notice before they signed that you may seek possession under Ground 4A.
- The tenancy was signed less than six months before the date the tenants could move in.
The notice is four months and has to end between 1 June and 30 September. The six-month rule moves your letting calendar: a house with a 1 September move-in can't be signed up the autumn before if you want Ground 4A available, so the sign-up window, and with it the first rent payment, opens in early March at the earliest.
How to collect monthly from a house of five
Many students answer a WhatsApp or a text sooner than an email, so build the setup around their phones:
- Give each student their own payment schedule for their share, even on a joint tenancy, so one late payer doesn't hold up the whole house's rent or leave you guessing whose share is missing.
- Send the mandate request by WhatsApp or SMS with the tenancy agreement, so the direct debit is in place before move-in.
- Take the first month after signing, by card, Apple Pay or pay by bank, and start the direct debit from the second month.
- Schedule the whole year in one go, with the due date in each student's tenancy agreement.
- Keep guarantor details on file against each student, and check with your adviser that guarantor deeds written for termly rent still cover monthly payments.
Adfin lets you import a whole intake from a CSV and set up a recurring monthly schedule for each student, a year ahead. Students get payment links and reminders by WhatsApp, SMS or email, can pay the first month by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or pay by bank, and then add a direct debit for the remaining months. Collecting doesn't depend on your own bank granting you a direct debit facility, and each student gets a notice email at least three working days before every payment.
If a parent or the student keeps paying by standing order, give each student their own unique bank details, so the payment lands against the right person in Xero or QuickBooks instead of arriving as one garbled lump from the house.
What to do when a student falls behind
Monthly rent makes arrears visible sooner. A missed termly payment used to be one large problem three times a year; a missed monthly payment is a smaller one you can deal with that week.
When a direct debit fails, Adfin retries it at no charge and then offers the student another way to pay. Its AI Customer Agents can follow up over WhatsApp, SMS or email on the schedule and in the tone you set, and you can hold off on one student, for example while they sort out a loan delay or speak to student support.
Ground 8 needs three months' arrears both when you give notice and at the hearing, so possession is a long way off when a payment is first missed. Ring the student and the guarantor in the first month, while the amount owed is still one month's rent.
Common questions
Can I still take rent by the term from students? No, not for assured tenancies in England. Rent periods must be monthly or 28 days or shorter, though a student can choose to pay early once the tenancy has started.
Can I ask for the first term's rent when students sign in the spring? No. Only one month's rent, and only once the agreement is signed.
Is there an exception for student houses? Not for the rent rules in ordinary student HMOs. Students in shared houses get the same monthly-or-shorter rent periods and one month limit as other tenants.
What is Ground 4A? A possession ground for student HMOs that lets you give four months' notice ending between 1 June and 30 September, if the conditions were met, including written notice before signing.
Can parents pay the rent for a student? Yes, anyone can pay, but the tenancy and the rent liability stay with the student. Make sure the payment is identified against the right student.
Can I charge students a fee for paying by card? No. A card or processing fee isn't a permitted payment under the Tenant Fees Act, so any cost of accepting payment stays with you.
Sources
- GOV.UK - Assured periodic tenancies: a guide for landlords: Rent in advance and deposits (accurate as of October 2026) https://www.gov.uk/assured-tenancy-agreements-a-guide-for-landlords/rent-in-advance-and-deposits
- GOV.UK - Assured periodic tenancies: a guide for landlords: Ending a tenancy (accurate as of October 2026) https://www.gov.uk/assured-tenancy-agreements-a-guide-for-landlords/ending-a-tenancy
- GOV.UK - Grounds for possession: guidance for landlords and letting agents (accurate as of October 2026) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/grounds-for-possession-guidance-for-landlords-and-letting-agents/grounds-for-possession-guidance-for-landlords-and-letting-agents
- legislation.gov.uk - Renters' Rights Act 2025, section 1 (accurate as of October 2026) https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/26/section/1
- Adfin Help Center - Create recurring invoices (accurate as of October 2026) https://support.adfin.com/en/articles/12589868-create-recurring-invoices
- Adfin Help Center - Encourage direct debit usage (accurate as of October 2026) https://support.adfin.com/en/articles/12600720-encourage-direct-debit-usage
