Short Term Lets after May 1st?

rowan222

I have been told by an established rental agency that after may 1st it will be illegal for landlords to advertise their property as a short term let even if thats what they wish to do.

So this raises the question. If one has a property they wish to let just for a limited period. Say, for example, you are not sure what you are going to do long term? Perhaps sell in later in the year, perhaps move into it yourself? Either way you want to let it for just a limited period of perhaps just a few months. How does the owner actually now advertise it? Legally that is if the term "short term" is now banned?

Even now already the term is being used in a different way. A let described a "short term" comes with the caveat that it will transfer to a rolling month to month tenancy with no time limit attached. So it would seem that it will also be impossible for the tenant to even identify anything as short term. A confusing situation!

user1977

("Short term let" might be a confusing term to use as it's primarily for AirBnB and similar very short term lets)

Bear in mind that moving back in or selling are among the legitimate reasons for ending a tenancy, so if those are the landlord's only concerns I don't think the position is much different from now.

_Penny_Dreadful

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6666123/short-term-lets-after-may-1st

You can’t really do that now (pre-RRA) in England anyway. Outside of bonafide holiday lets a landlord could try and crate a 2/3/4/5/6 month AST if they wanted but there was never ever guarantee that the tenant would move out at the end of the fixed term. That’s because the AST can only be ended by the tenant or a court. Furthermore, a landlord cannot/could not serve a valid section 21 in the first 4 months of an AST.

From 1st May onwards the section 21 will be a things of the past as will fixed term AST. All existing AST will convert to APT and new tenancies will start as APT. Should the landlord find themselves wanting to live in the property or sell it then they’ll need to use a section 8 with the applicable ground.

rowan222

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81980861#Comment_81980861

Yes I get that. But what if a property owner just wants to let out their property for a few months rather than it sit empty? What are they going to do? Put it on AirBNB perhaps? Because there were some very short term lets of 3,4 or 5 months on Right Move, well there used to be.

_Penny_Dreadful

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81980863#Comment_81980863

They do exactly what the law allows: they let it on a periodic tenancy, and if later they need the property back (to live in it, sell it, etc.) they use the appropriate possession ground.

That’s it. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Airbnb / holiday lets are a different legal category and many local authorities are clamping down on them.

Flugelhorn

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81980863#Comment_81980863

it is not as it used to be - used to be able to go abroad to work for a year eg sabbatical / fellowship and let your place for a that period of time (often to another similar visitor ) and all was agreed and the visitors would return to their own home at the end etc

it also wasn't unusual for people to go away for a few months and let the house - the people taking it on knew the deal and would leave at the end -

TroubledTarts

The problem is even if a LL wanted to advertise a short term let they cannot, so perhaps thats word of mouth only or social media etc.

Short term let's were always a bit of a danger even under the old rules but at least you could set expectations with the words available for 3 or 6 months.

It might take some time for these to reappear once everyone has got used to the new rules and regulations.

We already have one trouble tenant telling us they won't pay for 3 months and then we have to evict them (so that's a win....not)

_Penny_Dreadful

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81980896#Comment_81980896

I think both you and @rowan222 are describing custom and expectation, not legal obligation.

Even historically (pre-1st May 2026), the position was this:

• If you granted say a 3-month fixed term AST, the tenants were expected to leave at the end of the 3 months.
• But legally they never had to leave at the end of the 3 months.
• If the tenants decided to stay the landlord would need to wait until 4 months had passed, service a section 21 notice giving 2 months notice that at the end of the notice period the landlord would go to court seeking a possession order.

The difference from 1st May 2026 isn't that tenants once had to leave and no longer do, they never did. The difference is that the APT is periodic from day 1 rather than having some pointless, and in practice, meaningless fixed term of a few months.

In practice, short-term lets only ended smoothly if the tenants complied. That relied on goodwill and informal understanding, not enforceable law. If a tenant with a short-term let decided to dig their heels in and follow the law they could have been in occupation for the best part of a year.

Short (less than 6 months) lets can still work. The tenant has to provide 2 tenancy periods notice and the landlord can use one of new amended or existing section 8 grounds that suits their circumstances, not nostalgia on how things 'used to work'.

In short, people often did leave, but they never had to leave. The RRA hasn't taken that away because it was never there to begin with.

user1977

I have been told by an established rental agency that after may 1st it will be illegal for landlords to advertise their property as a short term let

Leaving aside whether it will be legally possible for the landlord to regain possession, does the Act actually make it illegal to advertise the landlord's preference? I can't see that it does from a quick look.

mills112

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81980863#Comment_81980863

it needs to be a holiday let. they are tightening up that sector as well with licencing needed in some areas and restrictions on the length of time a property can be used for holiday lets.

mills112

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81980896#Comment_81980896

yeah, you could advertise as short let and the rent was more than long let. not allowed anymore apparently as stated in this thread.