england-and-wales legal-terms assured-shorthold-tenancy
In what sense is an Assured Tenancy “assured”?
<p>Why was this term chosen for the standard type of tenancy brought in under the housing act 1988? Who is the one that is meant to have the assurance, and what is the assurance thought to be of?</p>

<p>The assurance benefits both parties.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>The tenant cannot be evicted before the minimum term expires, if they have adhered to the terms of the agreement (with some rare exceptions).</p>
</li>
<li><p>The landlord can gain possession under the terms of the agreement (subject to a minimum term). The Housing Act 1988 ended the &quot;sitting tenant&quot; trap for new lettings, where the landlord could not sell the house at market value.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>In practice, since 1997 most ATs are Assured Shorthold Tenancies with a 6-month fixed period which the agent renews. Though there are some ruthless agents who like to move tenants on so that they don't get too settled (and they can charge the landlord a re-letting fee). OTOH some landlords will want to keep a trouble-free tenant.</p>
<p>Before 1988 tenancy laws were heavily skewed towards the tenant. Practically the only way a lawful tenant could be evicted, was if the owner needed to live in the property, and owned no other property (i.e. an owner of multiple lettings could not just shuffle around between them, to evict tenants).</p>
<p>So although the new style tenancies were called &quot;Assured&quot;, basically new tenants lost their &quot;security of tenure&quot; and IMO this eventually created a huge inflation in domestic property value between 1995 and 2007, as residential property became a commodity which individuals were encouraged to invest in: the buy-to-let market.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>In what sense is an Assured Tenancy “assured”?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It is &quot;assured&quot; in the sense that it cannot be brought to an end by the landlord other than by the means set out in <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/50/section/5" rel="nofollow noreferrer">s. 5</a>:</p>
<ul>
<li>court order</li>
<li>when the tenancy was fixed-term and provided powers to the landlord to end the tenancy at the end of that term</li>
<li>disqualification of the occupants under the Immigration Act 2014, with notice</li>
</ul>
