Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to help improve the quality of student accommodation.

The government is improving the quality of student accommodation by overhauling the regulation of the private rented sector through the Renters’ Rights Bill.

The Bill will provide tenants, including students, with greater security and stability and empower them to challenge bad practice. This change will help increase flexibility and prevent students in the private rented sector from being trapped paying rent for substandard properties – assured periodic tenancies will incentivise timely repairs and better standards.

For purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA), only providers signed up to approved government codes will be exempt from the assured system. Quality in private PBSA is safeguarded through government-approved codes of practice, administered by ANUK/UNIPOL, which set rigorous standards for safety, maintenance, and student wellbeing.