Checked against the Act and the government roadmap, 29 September 2026
After Section 21: the flat is still yours
Since 1 May 2026 an assured tenancy in England has no end date. You cannot simply ask the tenant to leave: possession needs a statutory ground, and a court if they stay. Owners describe it the same way every time — the flat stops feeling like mine. That trap closes only on landlords who grant a tenancy. With us you never grant one.
What changed on 1 May 2026
The first phase of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 came into force on that date, brought in by the Commencement No. 2 Regulations. In the private rented sector it did all of this at once:
- Section 21 was abolished. No new no-fault notices can be served
- Assured shorthold tenancies became assured periodic tenancies — with no end date
- Possession now rests on the reformed statutory grounds, and on a court if the tenant stays
- Rent may be increased once a year at most; rental bidding and advance rent demands are banned
The practical consequence is blunt: once you have signed a long tenancy, the date you get your flat back is no longer yours to decide. It belongs to the grounds, and to a court list.
Why that trap never closes on you
The Act governs tenancies. A tenancy gives someone exclusive possession of a home, and everything that follows — the grounds, the notice periods, the court — follows from that one fact.
With StayQ there is no tenancy at all. We are a management company, not a tenant. You keep possession of your flat. We market it, price it, run the guests and the cleaning, and take a fee from what it collects. Guests stay for nights or weeks under a licence to occupy, which is not a tenancy.
So the chain never starts. No assured tenancy. No tenant with security. No statutory ground to prove. Nothing to end in court, because there is nothing to end. Your flat does not leave your hands for a moment — it is being run for you, not let away from you.
How you get it back
Because the arrangement is a contract with a company rather than a tenancy, the way out is a clause you agreed, not a process someone else controls:
| Question | The answer in our agreement |
|---|---|
| How does it end? | Thirty days’ written notice, from either side |
| Do I need a reason? | No. No grounds, no forms, no hearing |
| What does ending it cost? | Nothing. No penalty, no exit fee |
| Is there a minimum term? | No. And no sign-up fee |
| What about bookings already taken? | They are honoured — guests who booked in good faith still arrive |
| What comes back to me? | The keys, the listings and the review history |
| What does it cost while it runs? | 12% of what the flat collects, plus VAT. Nothing else |
| I have a tenant in there now | The existing tenancy can run to its end date; nothing here shortens it |
Two lines in that table deserve saying out loud, because they are the difference between an honest promise and a sales one. Thirty days means thirty days, not the same afternoon. And guests who already booked still arrive. What you are buying is an exit you control and can plan — not an instant one.
Where the line actually falls
Calling something “serviced accommodation” does not by itself put it outside the Act. What matters is how the occupation works in practice. If a person occupied your flat as their only or principal home, on their own, with exclusive possession, a court could treat that as an assured tenancy whatever the document was headed. The label follows the substance, not the other way round.
So the honest version is this: nightly and weekly stays are licences, and that is what we run. The longer a single occupation lasts and the more it looks like somebody’s home, the closer it moves to being one. Anyone who tells you a form of words puts you outside the law permanently is selling you something they cannot deliver — and if a tribunal disagrees with them later, it is your flat, not theirs.
What this does not solve
If this page only listed advantages it would not be worth reading. Three things stay exactly where they were, and any one of them can stop a particular flat:
- Your lease. Most London leasehold flats restrict subletting or short letting outright, and the freeholder’s consent is a separate conversation from anything in this Act
- Your mortgage and insurance. A residential mortgage usually forbids short letting without written consent, and standard home cover generally excludes paying guests
- Tax. The Furnished Holiday Let regime was abolished on 6 April 2025. Short-let income is taxed under the ordinary rules for residential property, and the old reliefs are gone
There is also a registration scheme on the way. The government’s implementation roadmap puts the Private Rented Sector Database at “from late 2026”, with mandatory landlord sign-up to the PRS Ombudsman in 2028. Neither has landed yet; both will.
What we check before anything is listed
Because of the three points above, the first work on any flat is reading, not photography. We look at your lease and its subletting clauses, your building’s position, your mortgage terms, and what your borough requires. Then we tell you plainly what the flat can do.
Sometimes the answer is that it cannot. You hear that at the start, before anyone has spent money — that is the whole point of doing it first.
Where this comes from
Written from primary sources: the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 on legislation.gov.uk, the Commencement No. 2 and Transitional and Saving Provisions Regulations 2026 that brought the first phase into force on 1 May 2026, and the government’s own implementation roadmap for the dates that have not arrived yet. Where a date is not in those documents, it is not on this page.
This is a plain-English guide, not legal or tax advice, and we are not solicitors. Whether a particular arrangement is a tenancy or a licence turns on the facts of that arrangement, and your lease or mortgage may be stricter than the law. Take your own advice before you change how a flat is let. If you would like us to look at your specific building, email info@stayq.co.uk — we will tell you honestly if the answer is no.