Can you still ask a tenant for six months' rent up front, or take the highest offer when three people want the same flat? For new lettings in England the answer to both is now no. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 changed the rules on what you can charge before a tenancy starts and how you advertise the rent, and getting either wrong can mean a civil penalty.
Here is what the Act bans, what a lawful advertised rent looks like, and how to structure a first payment that stays inside the rules.
The dates that matter
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025. The main tenancy reforms, including the rent-in-advance limit and the rental bidding ban, commenced on 1 May 2026 (see the gov.uk guidance on the Renters' Rights Act and the Act itself on legislation.gov.uk). From that date all assured tenancies became periodic and Section 21 "no fault" evictions ended, so these payment rules apply to essentially every new letting you take on.
If you are reading this later, check the current gov.uk guidance before you advertise, because thresholds and enforcement detail can be updated.
The rental bidding ban: advertise one price, take that price
Rental bidding is the practice of inviting or accepting offers above the advertised rent. It became common in tight markets, where several applicants would be encouraged to outbid each other for the same property.
Under the Act, that is no longer allowed. In broad terms:
- You (or your agent) must state a proposed rent in the advertisement for the property.
- You must not ask for, encourage or accept an offer of rent higher than the advertised figure.
- You cannot run an informal auction between applicants.
The rent you publish is the ceiling. You are free to set that figure at whatever the market will bear when you advertise, but once it is out there, that is the number a tenant pays. If you want a higher rent, you advertise a higher rent from the start, openly, rather than letting applicants push each other up.
This does not stop you choosing between applicants on the usual lawful grounds such as affordability and referencing. It stops you choosing on who offers to pay the most.
The limit on rent in advance
The second change targets large upfront lump sums. Some landlords and agents asked for many months, sometimes a full year, of rent before the keys changed hands, often to sidestep weaker referencing. The Act restricts this.
The rule is that rent required in advance is limited to a single rent period. For a tenancy where rent is paid monthly, that means one month's rent. You cannot require a tenant to hand over several months or a year in one go as a condition of granting or continuing the tenancy.
Before the tenancy starts
Ahead of the tenancy you can lawfully collect three things:
- A holding deposit of up to one week's rent (unchanged, under the Tenant Fees Act 2019).
- The first period's rent, capped at one rent period (typically one month).
- A tenancy deposit, capped at five weeks' rent where the annual rent is under £50,000, or six weeks' rent at £50,000 or above.
Once the tenancy is running
You cannot then demand further rent in advance on top of the normal schedule. Rent falls due period by period as the tenancy agreement sets out. A tenant can still choose to pay early if they wish, but you cannot make a bulk advance payment a requirement.
Worked example: a compliant first payment
Take a flat advertised at £1,200 a month. That is £14,400 a year, so the annual rent is under £50,000 and the deposit cap is five weeks' rent.
Five weeks' rent works out as £14,400 ÷ 52 × 5 = £1,384.62.
| Component | Old approach (12 months up front) | Compliant under the RRA |
|---|---|---|
| Rent required in advance | £14,400 | £1,200 (one month) |
| Tenancy deposit (5 weeks) | £1,384.62 | £1,384.62 |
| Total first payment | £15,784.62 | £2,584.62 |
The advertised rent stays at £1,200 in both columns. What changes is that you can no longer ask the tenant to front £14,400, and you cannot accept an applicant who offers £1,300 to jump the queue. The lawful first payment here is one month's rent plus the deposit: £2,584.62, with any holding deposit already paid credited towards it.
What this means for you as a landlord
- Set your advertised rent carefully. It is now a hard ceiling, not an opening position. Price it right for the property and area at the point you list it.
- Do not solicit or accept over-asking offers, and tell your agent the same in writing. The agent acting on your behalf is caught by the same rules.
- Rework your referencing. If large advance rent was your fallback for thin credit histories, you will need to rely on guarantors, standard referencing and deposit protection instead.
- Check your paperwork. Standing orders, tenancy agreements and agent terms should reflect period-by-period rent, not a lump sum.
- Keep records. If a tenant offers to pay several months early of their own accord, note that it was their choice, not your requirement.
Enforcement sits with local authorities, and breaching the payment rules can attract a civil penalty, so treat this as a compliance item rather than a grey area.
The bottom line
For lettings in England from 1 May 2026, the advertised rent is the rent, and the most you can require before move-in is one month's rent, a deposit capped at five or six weeks, and a holding deposit of up to a week. No auctions, no year up front. If you build those limits into how you advertise and how you collect the first payment, you stay on the right side of the Act without changing the headline rent you charge.
This is general information, not tax or financial advice. Check the current gov.uk and NRLA guidance for your situation before you let.
