The assured tenancy was the replacement for the ProtectedTenancy introduced by the HousingAct1988. Don't be fooled by the name: the `protected' in `protected tenancy' and the `assured' in `assured tenancy' do not refer to the same person. The main purpose of a protected tenancy under the RentAct1977 was to protect the tenant; the assured tenancy assured the landlord of his ability to recover the property, and to charge a market rent. After 1989, the assured tenancy was to be assumed whenever a dwelling house was let to a private individual as his home.
Although the assured tenancy offered less protection to the tenant than the protected tenancy, it did offer some. In general, the landlord could not evict the tenant so long as he continued to pay rent, even when the original term expired. When this new legislation did not result in the desired recovery of the rental housing market, the HousingAct1996 tipped the balance very much further in the favour of the landlord, and created the AssuredShortholdTenancy, which in some particulars is little more than a licence.
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