What is a Non-Assured Tenancy Agreement?

Under landlord and tenant law there are different types of tenancy agreement. In England the standard is now the assured periodic tenancy, which replaced the assured shorthold tenancy or AST in May 2026. However, landlords and tenants may sometimes come across non-assured tenancy agreements too. Here's what a non-assured tenancy agreement is and what you need to know about them.

Article updated: September 2026

Tenancy Agreements - What You Need to Know

A tenancy agreement is a contract between a landlord and a tenant. The tenancy agreement sets down such things as what both the landlord and tenant are expected to do, what they cannot do and how the tenancy can be ended including a procedure for evictions.

The types of tenancy agreements that may be used in residential lettings, and what they include, are covered by several different laws.

The most common type of private residential tenancy agreement in England was, for nearly three decades, the assured shorthold tenancy or AST for short; since 1 May 2026 most new private lets in England run as assured periodic tenancies under the Renters' Rights Act. The AST was introduced by the Housing Act 1988 and this act regulates what an AST covers and the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants under it.

Other types of tenancy that might be encountered include non-assured tenancies, excluded tenancies or licences, and regulated tenancies. These are much rarer than assured tenancies and are only used in limited circumstances. Some of them are historic tenancy agreements which still exist for old tenancies but which are no longer issued. These tenancies are covered by different acts, and place different rights and obligations on landlords and tenants.

What Exactly is a Non-Assured Tenancy Agreement?

The 'assured' in an assured tenancy means that the tenant has security of tenure, a set of occupancy rights fixed by the Housing Act 1988. In practice, it means a private landlord in England can only take the property back through the courts on one of the Act's legal grounds. Some of those grounds are about the tenant's conduct, such as rent arrears or antisocial behaviour. Others cover the landlord's own circumstances, such as needing to sell or move in, as government guidance on the rules from 1 May 2026 sets out. The one leftover is a Section 21 notice served before 1 May 2026 where the landlord then applied to the court while the notice was still valid, and no later than 31 July 2026. Those cases continue until they conclude, as the transitional guidance explains.

The 'shorthold' in an assured shorthold tenancy was about the landlord's route to possession rather than the length of the let: an AST could be fixed-term or periodic, and the landlord could take the property back through the old Section 21 route without giving a reason. Both new private ASTs and that route ended in May 2026; housing associations and other private registered providers move across from 2027 at the earliest, as the government's transitional guidance sets out. A landlord who had already served a Section 21 notice could still apply to the court on it until 31 July 2026, or until the notice's own validity ran out if sooner, and those cases run on. Any other possession claim on a private assured tenancy now goes through Section 8 grounds on a periodic assured tenancy.

A shorthold tenancy was not necessarily short.

If you're weighing up how long to let for, our guide to how long a long-term let runs covers the practicalities.

Non-assured tenancies therefore are tenancies which are not assured tenancies under the Housing Act 1988 at all.

When Non-Assured Tenancy Agreements are Used

Non-assured tenancies are generally only used when an assured tenancy is not possible. That is, where the letting is one which cannot be an assured tenancy: either because it fails the basic test in section 1 of the Housing Act 1988 (a dwelling let as a separate dwelling to an individual, or to joint tenants who are all individuals, where the tenant or at least one of the joint tenants occupies it as their only or principal home), or because it falls within one of the exceptions in Schedule 1 to the Act.

Reasons for using a tenancy that is a non-assured tenancy might include:

• That the let property isn't the tenant's main home. (Their main home is somewhere else.)
• That the let is a holiday letting.
• That the let is a student letting. This can be the case with lettings in university halls, and with purpose-built student accommodation where the tenants are university students and the provider has signed up to the National Code, as the government's landlord guide sets out. (An ordinary private student house is different. It is usually let on an assured periodic tenancy. Since 1 May 2026 the landlord of a student HMO may have a possession ground for the end of the academic year, but only if all of its conditions are met: the tenants were all full-time students or expected to become so, the landlord intends to let to full-time students next, the tenancy was signed less than six months before the move-in date, the tenants were given written notice of the ground before they signed, and the landlord gives four months' notice that ends between 1 June and 30 September. For a tenancy that began before 1 May 2026 the first summer was handled differently: the written notice could be given up to 31 May 2026, the six-month rule did not apply, and two months' notice served between 1 May and 30 July 2026 was enough, as its section on ending a tenancy explains.)
• In the case of resident landlords. Where the landlord lives in the same building as their only or principal home, both when the letting starts and throughout it, as the government's resident landlord guide sets out. It does not apply where the building is a purpose-built block of flats and landlord and tenant occupy separate flats.
• Where the rent is very high, ie. more than £100,000 a year, when an assured tenancy cannot be used.
• Where the rent is very low: £250 a year or less, or £1,000 a year or less in Greater London, for a tenancy granted on or after 1 April 1990 (other than under a contract made before that date).
• Where there is a tenancy under which no rent is payable at all. (Rent that is owed but unpaid is arrears; it does not take a tenancy outside the Act.)
• Where the tenant isn't a person. For example, the tenant is a business or company. (Residential tenancies where the tenant simply works from home will still usually be assured periodic tenancies.)
• In the case of licensed premises, even where the landlord lives on the premises. The Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 covers tenancies in licensed premises.
• Tenancies of houses on a plot of agricultural land and agricultural land itself in some circumstances. The Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995 covers agricultural tenancies.
• Where the tenancy is a Crown tenancy in some circumstances, ie. where the landlord is the Crown or a government department such as the MOD.
• Where the landlord isn't a private landlord and isn't a housing association. For example where the tenancy is a local authority.

You need to be aware of the fact that different council tenants have different tenancies.

Also, a tenancy granted before 15 January 1989, when the Housing Act 1988 came into force, is normally not an assured tenancy under that Act. The exception is the earlier assured tenancy created by the Housing Act 1980. Those normally became Housing Act 1988 assured tenancies on that date. The one saving was a tenant who already had a court application for a new tenancy waiting to be decided on 15 January 1989, as the explanatory notes to the Deregulation Bill set out.

It is recommended that landlords who are considering using a non-assured tenancy with a letting take expert advice on whether it is suitable for their situation.

It is also recommended that tenants who are asked to sign a non-assured tenancy with a letting take expert advice on whether it is suitable for them.

Important Points to Bear in Mind

There are a few things to bear in mind when a non-assured tenancy is used and where it varies significantly from an assured periodic tenancy.

Tenants have a right of occupancy subject to complying with the provisions of the tenancy agreement.

Neither a Section 8 nor the old Section 21 notice applies to bringing a non-assured tenancy to an end. Section 8 belongs to assured tenancies under the Housing Act 1988, and Section 21 belonged specifically to ASTs; it was abolished for private lettings in May 2026, with housing associations and other private registered providers following from 2027 at the earliest. A private landlord who served a Section 21 notice before 1 May 2026 had until 31 July 2026, or the end of the notice's own validity if sooner, to apply to the court, and a case started by then runs on until it concludes.

Tenancy deposits don't need to be protected with a non-assured tenancy. The deposit protection rules apply to assured periodic tenancies, so landlords don't need to pay the tenant's deposit into a tenancy deposit scheme.

In practice, most investors rarely touch a non-assured tenancy. A typical investment property, whether found on buy to let property for sale listings or among refurbished below market value properties, is usually let on an assured periodic tenancy.

Tenancies in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales

This article only applies to England. Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have different tenancy laws and tenancy agreements.

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