The Housing Act 1988 contains two sets of provisions dealing with the question of holiday accommodation. Firstly, it provides that a dwelling-house let for the purpose of a holiday will not be subject to an assured [shorthold] tenancy. Secondly, it contains a provision permitting the landlord of a dwelling-house used for the purpose of a holiday during the holiday season to let it out on an assured tenancy in between holiday periods and yet recover possession at the end of the term. As most tenancies are assured shorthold tenancies nowadays, this latter part is possibly of little interest to most landlords.

A suitable tenancy for the purpose of a holiday is available to download here.

A tenancy will not be an assured [shorthold] tenancy if the purpose of the tenancy is to confer on the tenant the right to occupy the dwelling-house for a holiday [sch.1, para 9 to the Housing Act 1988]. As a consequence, if a deposit is taken on a holiday let agreement, the deposit will not need protecting [s213(1) Housing Act 2004].

Whether that is the purpose is a question of fact which, in

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