Landlords to be banned from demanding several months’ rent in advance

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1. Private landlords will be banned from asking tenants for several months’ of rent payments in advance as part of Labour’s push to reform [private renting](https://inews.co.uk/topic/renting?ico=in-line_link).

   The Government will introduce new rules that cap advance payments at one months’ rent under the upcoming Renters’ Rights Bill.

   Landlords are currently able demand thousands of pounds in upfront rent payments, with concerns that renters without savings are being blocked from finding a home or being forced to take on debt.

   Under the changes, landlords will still be able to ask tenants to pay one month’s rent upfront, alongside a deposit of up to six weeks’ rent as allowed under the Tenant Fees Act 2019.

   The Government and tenants groups say this will provide enough “financial assurance” to landlords while cracking down on “unscrupulous” property owners discriminating against some renters, such as lower earners.

   However, landlords claim the policy will leave them more vulnerable to unreliable tenants.

   Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing Angela Rayner said: “We’re putting an end to renters being ripped off by outrageous upfront costs that leave them struggling to make ends meet or locked out of housing altogether.

   “Our Renters’ Rights Bill will transform the rights of 11 million private tenants, ending rental bidding wars and abolishing ‘no fault’ eviction, making the system fairer and giving renters more security, stability and protections.”

   Chris Norris, of the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) said that banning landlords from asking for rent upfront was “cutting off any assurance responsible landlords might seek when renting homes to those who cannot easily demonstrate their ability to sustain tenancies and pay their rents.”

   Norris defended the practice of requesting rent upfront and said landlords only ask for it “where a prospective tenant is unable to meet regular referencing requirements” in order to “mitigate the risk of default”.

   He added: “Commonly this happens when a tenant is new to the country and does not have a track record in the UK, such as international students, or where they are unable to provide sufficient evidence of income to sustain the tenancy.

2. Every change seems to have resulted in a rent rise.

   This one I suspect will do similar because it will reduce the number of landlords.

   Think it’s a good rule tbh, although it’s technically still a deposit plus pay in advance, so still going to be a struggle for some.

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4. Oh good plan. Squeeze lower credit renters out entirely. That’ll fix things.

5. The monthly price will go up as a result of that.

6. If there is one thing that labour can do for renter, that must be allowed subletting. You see people go on holiday/ visiting family and left their room empty for several months.That only benefits the landlord. The supply can go up in this way.

7. Do you know why landlords were asking for 6 months to a year rent up in advance in recent years?

   It was mainly due to the Hong Kong BNO exiles from 2019 to 2022. 2.9 million of them to be exact. When those people moved to the UK fleeing Chinese government persecution, they bought a lot of money with them, but since they didn’t have a credit history in this country, it was near impossible for agents and landlords to accept that level of risk upfront, which meant that the BNOs were willing to pay months upfront in order to get out of hotels and into permanent accommodation. The only downside to that is many of the local British who could not match BNO upfront payments at the time were unable to find places to rent, which meant that they were struggling.

   Fast forward to today, most of the Hong Kong BNO exiles have bought homes, settled, or have built up a credit history in this country suffice to NOT have to pay rent 6-months to 1 year upfront. They are not significantly competing in the same market for British rental homes anymore, which means that market supply and demand is not as crazy as it was in previous years. This is a law drawn too late, and now it has the potential to cause more damage than benefit. Because credit checks still exist in this country prior to renting, landlords will simply not be able to consider those without credit history who may have cash upfront, and those students who don’t have a guarantor in this country.

8. Landlords are demanding that the government provide “some clarity on how renters will demonstrate they can afford the rent” if they can’t be charged multiple months of it up front.

   Landlords already ask for proof of how much you earn like payslips or employer references. They already know exactly how much you’ll be earning monthly and know if that’s enough for the rent. They can use those. Idiots.

9. I’m trying too find a place & even having a guarantor & deposit upfront doesn’t guarantee shit these days.

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