This section excludes leases of more than 21 years from the assured tenancy system. This will allow leases over 21 years to have fixed terms, which are necessary for long leases to function. This will primarily affect shared ownership products and leasehold agreements with ground rents high enough to meet the legal threshold of an assured tenancy. It will mean landlords are no longer able to use the section 8 grounds to obtain possession of long leases which are also assured tenancies by virtue that they are not at low rent, including where a shared owner has built up arrears of rent.
	This section will ensure that leases between seven – 21 years that were entered into before the Act are not pulled into the assured tenancy regime, given these leases were drawn up under a different legislative regime.
	It will also ensure that regulated home purchase plans can continue to function. These enable consumers to purchase property using Islamic Finance, which does not permit the receipt and payment of interest.
Part 1: Tenancy reform Chapter 2: Tenancies that cannot be assured tenancies Section 31: Long tenancies and financial services products Effect Background