Tenant referencing after the Renters' Rights Act: what landlords can still check, and what is now banned

You can still reference tenants thoroughly in England: identity, right to rent, income, employment, previous landlord, a credit check and a guarantor are all lawful. What you cannot do is refuse someone because they have children or receive benefits, charge them for the referencing, or demand more than a month's rent before a new monthly tenancy starts, so the job now is one fair, consistent, written affordability test that you apply to everyone and record.

Landlords are tightening up. As reported by Landlord Today on 23 October 2026, early findings from Goodlord's ninth State of the Lettings Industry survey (more than 3,000 agents, landlords and tenants) found 26% of landlords more likely to reject applicants they would once have accepted, 51% of agents more cautious about recommending applicants, and 31% of landlords willing to leave a property empty while they wait for a lower-risk tenant. The full report is due on 29 October, according to Property Industry Eye, and was not published as of 25 October 2026, so treat these as headline figures about intentions, not measured rejection rates. Separately, a TDS Charitable Foundation survey of more than 2,000 landlords in England found 26% had at least one tenant in arrears, down from 29% a year earlier (reported by Landlord Today, 23 October 2026).

The caution is understandable. With Section 21 gone, the mandatory arrears route is Ground 8, which for monthly rent now needs three months' arrears both when you serve notice and at the hearing, ignoring amounts unpaid solely because Universal Credit housing payments have not yet arrived (Housing Act 1988, Schedule 2). Referencing is your main protection. The risk is turning caution into blanket rules that break the law.

What changed for tenant referencing under the Renters' Rights Act?

The discrimination ban, rent-in-advance limit and bidding ban all took effect on 1 May 2026 under SI 2026/421, regulations 2 and 3:

• Benefits and children. Refusing, or making it harder to rent, because someone receives benefits or a child would live with or visit them is banned, with a civil penalty of up to £7,000. Our No DSS ban guide covers the exceptions and enforcement.
• Rent in advance. No rent can be taken before the tenancy agreement is signed. For a new monthly tenancy, you can require at most one month's rent between signing and the start date. Our guide to rent in advance and the bidding ban has the payment arithmetic.
• Bidding. You advertise one rent and cannot accept more, so choosing between applicants is now about referencing, never price.

What did not change: section 41 of the Act says nothing in the discrimination rules prohibits taking a person's income into account when judging whether they can afford the rent. Affordability is still yours to test.

What tenant referencing checks can landlords still do?

All the usual ones, applied the same way to every adult applicant: identity, right to rent, income, employment, a previous landlord reference, a credit check and a guarantor. As of 25 October 2026:

Two older rules still run alongside. The Equality Act 2010 bars discrimination over protected characteristics such as race, disability, sex and religion when you let. The Tenant Fees Act caps the holding deposit at one week's rent. Unless agreed otherwise in writing, the deadline for agreement is the fifteenth day of the period beginning on receipt (Schedule 2). Refund within 7 days of signing, deciding not to proceed or reaching the deadline without an agreement, unless a statutory exception applies; with the payer's consent, you can apply it towards the first rent or tenancy deposit.

Retention is limited to a right to rent disqualification neither you nor your agent could reasonably have known about before accepting the deposit, materially false or misleading information, withdrawal, or failure to take reasonable steps to sign. For the last ground, you and your agent must have taken all reasonable steps yourselves. Withdrawal or failure to progress does not justify retention if you demanded a prohibited payment or behaved so unreasonably that proceeding could not reasonably be expected. A failed affordability check alone is not a reason to keep it. Give written reasons within 7 days of deciding not to proceed before the deadline, or within 7 days of the deadline if no agreement is reached. A first Tenant Fees Act breach carries a penalty of up to £5,000.

Can landlords ask for a guarantor?

Yes. The government's fees guidance says you can ask a tenant to provide a suitable rent guarantor as a condition of granting the tenancy. The discrimination guidance, updated 6 May 2026, adds the limit: a landlord "may require a guarantor from all prospective tenants", but if a guarantor rule is in practice only applied to benefit recipients, that is discrimination. So the trigger must be neutral, such as income below your multiple, and it must apply to a salaried applicant who misses it just as much as to anyone else.

If you rely on a guarantor deed signed before 1 May 2026, the fees guidance (updated 7 July 2026) says to review it, because the tenancy reforms may affect it, and to get the guarantor's consent to any changes.

How should an affordability check for a tenant work?

Write one rule down before you advertise, and apply it to every applicant's total income. The common industry convention is annual income of 30 times the monthly rent, with a guarantor earning 36 times; one online letting agent, for example, uses exactly 30x for tenants and 36x for guarantors. It is a convention, not law. You can pick a different multiple, but it must be the same for everyone.

A written letting criteria page should cover:

• The income multiple, applied to total household income from all sources: wages, self-employment, pensions, Universal Credit including the housing element, other benefits and maintenance.
• Accepted evidence. The guidance says landlords "should not unreasonably refuse" a means of evidencing income, and names bank statements, benefit letters and payslips.
• The guarantor trigger and multiple, offered to everyone who misses the income test.
• What else counts, such as a set amount of savings, if you accept it, for everyone.
• How you choose when several pass, set out below.

Blanket rules are where landlords get caught. A "minimum salary £X from employment" rule or a referencing product that leaves out benefits can exclude applicants whose total income meets your requirement. The guidance gives a referencing company that ignored benefit income as an example of a breach, and the landlord carries the risk for anyone acting for them. Our No DSS ban guide works through how benefit income counts in the same test.

Worked example: one letting's decision record

Illustrative figures. A three-bed house advertised at £1,350 a month. The landlord wrote the criteria on Monday 5 October 2026, before the first viewing on Friday 9 October:

• Total household income from all sources of at least 30 x £1,350 = £40,500 a year.
• Any reasonable income evidence: payslips, tax calculations, bank statements or award letters.
• Below the bar, a guarantor earning at least 36 x £1,350 = £48,600 a year, offered to anyone.
• Tie-breaker: the first complete application, timed by when its last document arrived.

Decision, 12 October: offered to applicant 2, the first complete application meeting the criteria, who paid a £311.53 holding deposit (one week, rounded down: £1,350 x 12 ÷ 52) that day, so the deadline for agreement is 26 October. Applicant 1's guarantor showed £50,200 a year, clearing the bar by £1,600; on 14 October applicant 1 was told in writing that an earlier complete application had been accepted, and kept as reserve. Without a guarantor, declining applicant 1 would have been lawful: the Act does not make you let to someone who cannot afford the rent.

What if an applicant fails the affordability check?

Treat everyone who misses the bar the same way. The options:

1. A guarantor who meets your guarantor multiple.
2. Rent guarantee insurance, bought by you. You cannot make the tenant pay for it: requiring a tenant to take out insurance is a prohibited requirement under the Tenant Fees Act. Check the insurer's criteria: one that demands a guarantor only from benefit claimants puts you in breach if you follow it.
3. A smaller or cheaper property. At 30x, applicant 1's £36,000 supports a rent of £36,000 ÷ 30 = £1,200 a month.

What you cannot offer is a way to buy past the test: no extra rent in advance, no deposit above the cap of five weeks' rent (six at £50,000 a year or more; our deposit cap calculator gives the figure), and no higher rent than you advertised.

How do you choose a tenant in 2026 when several applicants pass?

On criteria that have nothing to do with benefits, children or who offers more. The discrimination guidance says that where several applicants meet the income requirement, landlords "should not consider whether they receive benefits or have children" in deciding. Lawful tie-breakers include the order complete applications arrived, a move-in date that fits, references, and whether the household fits the property's size and any licence limits. Write the tie-breaker down with your criteria, before the first viewing.

Asking who will live there is fine, because overcrowding and HMO licence limits are legitimate concerns. Using the answer to turn away a family who fits the property is not.

What referencing data can landlords collect, and how long can they keep it?

Only what you need to decide, kept only as long as you can justify. Under UK GDPR, personal data must be "adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary" (ICO data minimisation guidance), and you must not keep it longer than you need it (ICO storage limitation guidance). UK GDPR sets no fixed period for ordinary referencing records, so set your own and be able to explain it; right to rent evidence has a separate minimum below.

• Collect: ID, right to rent evidence, proof of income, previous landlord details and credit search results, with the applicant told in writing what you check and who sees it.
• Do not collect: anything you will not use to decide, such as months of bank history when a payslip or award letter already proves income.
• Right to rent records: keep for the tenancy and at least one year after, as the Home Office guide updated 1 October 2026 requires.
• Unsuccessful applicants: keep your decision record long enough to answer a complaint, then delete the rest on schedule.

How should landlords record a referencing decision?

On one dated page per applicant: what you checked, the income you counted, the result against your written criteria, the options you offered and the reason for the outcome. If a council investigates a discrimination complaint, the guidance asks for documents supporting your decision, including time-stamped communications. A rule written before you advertised, applied the same way to every applicant and recorded at the time, is the strongest answer you can give.

How does Padlord help?

Padlord keeps each property's tenancy record in one place: tenant names and contact details, start date and rent, with documents such as the signed agreement and referencing records uploaded as tenancy documents and shown on the property timeline. It does not run referencing or credit checks. Keep only what your retention rule allows.

This covers England only; Wales and Scotland have their own discrimination and fees rules.

General information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Sources checked on 25 October 2026.