From May 2026, the Renters' Rights Act will scrap fixed 12-month contracts for students in private houses. Tenancies will become rolling (monthly), and landlords can only take one month’s rent upfront. At the same time, maintenance loans for home students are only going up by around 2.7% - nowhere near enough for the rising cost of living in Jesmond, Heaton, and other student areas.
But that’s not all. More changes are hitting students at the same time. Tuition fees for home students are rising by 2.71% to around £9,790 per year. The interest rate on many student loans (Plan 2 and Plan 3) will be capped at 6% from September 2026, which offers a bit of protection. However, the repayment threshold is being frozen from April 2027, which means graduates will start paying back earlier and end up paying more over time. Tanish, an international student from India going into his second year, is already feeling the pressure while house-hunting:
“I’m really worried,” he says. “Many of us paid 6 or 12 months’ rent upfront because we don’t have UK guarantors. Now landlords can only take one month. It’s making everything so much harder.”
Chloe, another second-year student from the UK, has a more balanced view on the renting changes. She says, “I think the rolling tenancies will be good for some and not others. But they have also gotten rid of the ‘no fault’ tenancies, so they can’t just kick people out because they want to make more money. They can only raise rent once a year and tenants can challenge it. But I think it means landlords could just look for an excuse to kick them out if they wanted.”
She also welcomes the new Decent Homes Standard and Warm Homes Plan, which will force landlords to bring properties up to at least an EPC C energy efficiency rating. Chloe knows firsthand how important this is after growing up in a cold, poorly maintained house. She recalls, “For example, my mum’s house during the cost of living crisis… our landlord didn’t insulate it properly.” She further says, “There were cracks in the corners of the windows where cold air would just blow in, and the radiators didn’t work properly. Northern winters get pretty cold, so we had to use hot water bottles and blankets at night because we couldn’t afford to have the heating on all the time. We even put duct tape over the cracks in the windows when the landlord refused to fix them.”
Georgia is more critical of the overall direction. She says, “In my opinion, I think what the Labour government is doing with these changes is completely wrong. Especially with the 12-month student contracts and the new rolling tenancies. I worry that this will mainly affect working-class students and their financial stability if rent is no longer reliable. Labour are meant to be the party for the working class and, at the moment, they’re really letting the working class and students down.”
James, who is studying International Relations, is less concerned about the renting side. “I’m less worried about renting changes,” he says. “Loan changes are a worry, but because of the lack of transparency.”
The combination of all these changes creates real uncertainty for students in Newcastle and across the UK. International students like Tanish face new barriers in the housing market, while many home students worry about tighter budgets and unclear loan rules. At the same time, improvements like better energy efficiency standards and the end of no-fault evictions offer some hope for fairer housing in the long run.
As second-years rush to find houses and everyone watches their budgets, the year 2026/27 is already feeling like one of the toughest years ahead. These national policies will shape where we live, how much we pay, and how warm (or cold) our homes feel next winter.