Are Holiday Lets Covered by the Renters' Rights Act? The Rules in England

A genuine holiday let is not covered by most of the Renters' Rights Act 2025. Paragraph 9 of Schedule 1 to the Housing Act 1988 provides that a tenancy whose purpose is to let someone occupy a property for a holiday cannot be an assured tenancy. Since 1 May 2026, the repeal of Ground 3 has made out of season lettings far riskier.

This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Landlords should seek independent legal advice for their specific circumstances. It describes the position in England.

Why does a holiday let fall outside the Renters' Rights Act?

Most of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 works by changing the rules for assured tenancies, meaning tenancies of a dwelling let as the occupier's only or principal home under section 1 of the Housing Act 1988. A holiday let is excluded from that definition by paragraph 9 of Schedule 1 to the 1988 Act: "A tenancy the purpose of which is to confer on the tenant the right to occupy the dwelling-house for a holiday."

The Renters' Rights Act did not amend paragraph 9. A genuine holiday let therefore sits outside the rules that now govern almost every private tenancy in England.

Our guide to which properties must be registered on the PRS database covers the database boundary in more detail.

What counts as a genuine holiday let?

A holiday let is genuine where the real purpose of the arrangement is a holiday, not a home. Courts look at the substance of the agreement and the facts, not the label on the document. In Street v Mountford [1985] AC 809, the House of Lords held that the legal nature of an occupation agreement depends on what it actually creates, whatever the parties choose to call it.

For holiday lets specifically, the Court of Appeal in Buchmann v May [1978] 2 All ER 993 treated the stated holiday purpose in the agreement as the starting point, with the burden on the occupier to show that the stated purpose was a sham. Outcomes depend heavily on the facts of each case.

Factors that are generally understood to point away from a genuine holiday include:

• The occupier works locally and has no other home.
• The occupier registers with local services, such as a GP or school, at the address.
• The "holiday" agreement is renewed back to back for months at a time.
• The rent and terms look like those of an ordinary residential letting in the area.

Where a court finds that the holiday label is a sham, the occupier is likely to have an assured tenancy, with all the Renters' Rights Act protections that come with it.

Can I let my holiday home out of season?

Yes, but the old safety net has gone. Before 1 May 2026, Ground 3 in Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988 gave a mandatory ground for possession where a property let for a fixed term of up to eight months had been occupied for a holiday in the 12 months before the tenancy began, and the landlord had given notice of the ground before the tenancy started. Paragraph 8 of Schedule 1 to the Renters' Rights Act 2025 simply provides: "Omit Ground 3."

The practical effect is significant. A winter letting to someone who lives in the property as their only or principal home is likely to be an assured tenancy and, since fixed terms have been abolished, a periodic one. There is no longer a ground designed to recover the property for the summer season.

A landlord who wants the property back to sell or to live in may be able to use Ground 1A or Ground 1, subject to their notice periods and restrictions. Neither is a ground for returning a property to holiday use.

Can I convert a long-term rental into a holiday let?

Not by ending the tenancy for that purpose. Since 1 May 2026, every route to possession of an assured tenancy runs through Section 8, and none of the grounds in Schedule 2 is designed for a change to holiday use. Responding to a written parliamentary question, as reported in March 2026, the government said the Act "includes a provision to prevent landlords from evicting tenants simply to convert properties into holiday lets".

A landlord can still change use once a tenancy ends lawfully, for example after the tenant gives notice. Our guide to how a tenancy ends now Section 21 is gone sets out every lawful route. Using Ground 1 or Ground 1A and then letting or marketing the property again too soon carries its own risks under the section 16M restricted period.

Which safety rules still apply to a holiday let?

Falling outside the Renters' Rights Act does not take a holiday let outside safety law. Two regimes in particular are generally understood to apply.

Gas safety. Regulation 36 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 applies to "relevant premises", defined as premises occupied for residential purposes, in consideration of money or money's worth, under a lease or a licence. That definition is generally understood to cover holiday lets, so an annual gas safety check by a Gas Safe registered engineer is required for gas appliances and flues the owner provides. Our gas safety certificate (CP12) guide explains the duty.

Fire safety. Government guidance, Making your small paying guest accommodation safe from fire, states that the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies to paying guest accommodation in England, including self-catering accommodation such as holiday lets. The guidance states that the Order requires a "suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment", and that the responsible person must keep a record of it.

Other duties, such as planning, business rates and tax treatment, depend on the property and the local authority, and are outside the scope of this article.

Is a short-term lets register coming in England?

A register is planned, but its details are not yet confirmed. The Culture Secretary told the House of Commons at oral questions on 3 September 2026 that the government is "committed to implementing the regulation of short-term lets", and trade reporting of those exchanges said a register is expected to be fully operational by March 2027.

At the time of writing, the information owners will need to provide, any fee, and the enforcement rules have not been set out in force. This article will be updated when they are. The short-term lets register is separate from the PRS database, which is for residential landlords.

What should a holiday let owner check now?

1. Confirm how each property is actually used: genuine holidays, or homes for any part of the year.
2. Review any out of season letting in place on or after 1 May 2026, including one that began earlier with a Ground 3 notice, and treat any where the occupier lives there as their home as a likely assured tenancy. Ground 3 can no longer be relied on unless a Section 8 notice was served before 1 May 2026.
3. For any assured tenancy, comply with the full rules: the written statement of terms, deposit protection, the PRS database and Section 8 for possession.
4. Keep the annual gas safety record and a recorded fire risk assessment for every holiday let.
5. Keep evidence of genuine holiday use, such as booking records and the length of each stay, in case the status of an occupation is ever challenged.
6. Take legal advice before switching a property between holiday and long-term use.

Learning the possession rules: LLCR Academy

LLCR Academy, the training arm of LLCR (Landlord Compliance Register), is developing Possession Without Section 21, a 13 lesson video course on Section 8 possession in England, and The Complete Landlord Course across nine modules. Both are listed as coming soon. The current and upcoming courses are in the LLCR Academy catalogue.

Keeping each property's status on record

Owners who run holiday lets alongside long-term rentals need to know, for each property, which rules apply. The LLCR platform's certificate tracking holds the gas safety record and fire risk assessment against each property and sends reminders before expiry, and the document vault keeps tenancy agreements and booking evidence together. That record can help show the status of an occupation if it is ever questioned.

Running a mix of holiday and long-term lets? The free LLCR compliance checker takes a few minutes, and LLCR certificate tracking keeps each gas and fire deadline in view.