Student housing
Student accommodation is not one electrical-safety regime
The words student accommodation, PBSA, hall, flat, licence and tenancy do not decide which rules apply. Identify the premises first. Confirm the occupation type, applicable duties and the institution’s requirements for the actual building.
Updated 27 October 2026. General guidance, not a reading of your own report and not legal advice.
Start from the premises, not the label
| What you have | The question to answer | Where the detail lives |
|---|---|---|
| A private rented flat let to students | Is it a specified tenancy? | The landlord page, if it is |
| An HMO | Does the HMO regime apply to this building? | The HMO page |
| Purpose-built student accommodation | Who controls the rooms, the common parts and the demise? | Confirm the occupation and legal regime for the building |
| Institution-managed accommodation | Is it a specified tenancy, a workplace, or something else? | Ask the institution for its applicable policy |
| Commercial or common areas | Are they a workplace or a landlord's common parts? | The commercial page, or the common-parts page |
| An individual room | Is the room the dwelling, or only a bedroom in a larger unit? | The agreement, not the marketing name |
Use an interval only where that duty exists
For a specified tenancy in England, arrange inspection and testing by a qualified person at least every five years, or by an earlier date stated in the report. Provide the required report before a new tenant moves in. Government guidance explains when an existing valid report can be used on re-letting; check its findings, next-inspection date and any changes to the installation rather than assuming that every new tenancy needs a new EICR.
The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 are a workplace duty to prevent danger so far as is reasonably practicable. Staff areas, plant and commercial common parts may raise that duty. They do not turn a bedroom into a workplace, and they do not set a five-year interval.
A short let is a different question and stays on its own page. This page does not decide a licence, a tenancy, or an HMO. Those are legal characterisations of the occupation, not words this article can award.
A private rented flat let to students is still a question about a specified tenancy. The students do not create a separate student code. An HMO is a question about that building, answered on the HMO page, not by the word student. Purpose-built student accommodation still has to be split into who controls the rooms, who controls the common parts, and what the demise actually is. The letters PBSA do not choose. Institution-managed halls are not given a university rule on this page. Staff plant and commercial common parts can raise the workplace duty without turning a bedroom into a workplace. An individual room might be the dwelling, or only a bedroom inside a larger unit. The agreement answers that. The brochure does not.
Once the premises are named, use the guide that covers that duty. This article only separates the questions. It does not replace the HMO service, the private-rented interval, or the short-let rules.
A specified tenancy starts on the landlord page. An HMO starts on the HMO page. Common parts start on the communal areas page.
Related pages
Name the premises
Student, PBSA, hall and tenancy are labels. They do not choose the regime.
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