Navigating Legislative Reforms: Insights from HOUSED Listeners

Sarah Canning from The Property Marketing Strategists shares the challenges HOUSED listeners have shared on the legislative reforms and how important it is to get clear advice to help navigate and be prepared for the changes that do not affect the end user.

In the recent Ask the Expert segment on Housed – The Shared Living podcast, the insight provided by Howard Kennedy inspired further discussion on key topics.

Renters’ Rights Act

One of the major themes is around how the Act will re-shape the tenancy landscape in the UK’s private rented and shared-living sectors. Some of the key points:

• The reality of a two-tier market within student accommodation and whether PBSA will take the opportunity to introduce more flexibility within their contracts.
• Renters are on the whole unaware of these changes which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as long as they are renting via reputable accommodation providers.
• Landlords waiting for the Act to be passed before making changes which means an increase in admin and communication resource required in a potentially short timescale.

Building Safety Act

Another major theme is how the Building Safety Act (and its regulatory regime) is impacting the whole shared-living / student / BTR supply chain. Key points from the podcast:

• Concerns about transparency, consistency, delays, especially around Gateway 2 approvals and the downstream effects on construction, design and delivery - impacting the whole supply chain of the construction industry.
• The shifts in responsibility to duty-holders who will have a whole new job level they need to be recruited for, and trained in.
• There are impacts on investment and sector growth with it being seen as too long, too complicated and higher risk.

Leasehold Reforms

The podcast touched on the wider ownership reforms under the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. Key themes:

• Many BTR and co-living assets may also hold leasehold interests (or mixed tenure blocks) and so the reforms also have indirect implications for asset value, service charge risk, governance of blocks.
• The wider market is watching how these reforms affect costs, transparency, leaseholder/tenant relationships, because they can shift investor sentiment and asset value.

Strategy, risk and product design

Beyond those three pillars, the podcast draws out some cross-cutting themes relevant to the shared-living sector:

• Business model risk and flexibility: With tenancy reform and safety/regulation delays, operators must build flexibility into their leases, void assumptions, operational budgets.
• Product/tenant segmentation: The difference between student PBSA, multi-let HMOs, BTR, co-living and later living — each reacts differently to the legislative changes (e.g., whether fixed-term tenancy can remain, how void risk is treated). The podcast noted the importance of clarifying definitions (what is PBSA vs HMO vs BTR) because that determines which regime applies.
• Regulatory timing and clarity: A recurrent theme is “we know change is coming, but when, how, and with what exact terms?” For example, the national landlord code tied to PBSA, the phased implementation of the Renters’ Rights Act, clarity on safety regulator processes.
• Asset value and investor sentiment: The conversation indicates that legislative/regulatory risk affects investor perception in shared living: safety issues, leasehold/warranty risk, tenancy length and rental stability - all feed into how attractive an asset is.
• Design and resident experience: Although legislation is about policy, the podcast connects the changes to resident experience: greater security of tenure means operators must think about retention, community; building safety means residents expect clear information, transparency; ownership/leasehold transparency ties into service charges and resident satisfaction.

The podcast’s discussion around the Renters’ Rights Bill, the Building Safety Act and leasehold reform collectively paints a picture of the shared-living sector entering a phase of structural change. Renters are gaining more protections and stability, regulation around building safety is tightening (with knock-on effects on delivery and cost), and ownership frameworks are being reworked to provide more fairness and transparency. For developers, operators and investors in shared living (student, BTR, co-living, later living) this means: you must adapt business models, lease frameworks, design/asset governance, operational processes - and think ahead about risk, product relevance and resident experience.