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Managing rent payments since the Renters' Rights Act
Last updated: 30/04/2026 • First published: 27/10/2025
The Renters' Rights Act is now in force and applies to most private rented tenancies from 1 May 2026. As a result landlords have had to change how they operate in a number of ways.
One of the most significant areas of change is around rent. The Act makes several significant changes, such as:
- Banning rent in advance before a tenancy begins and restricting it during a tenancy
- Banning rental bidding wars
- Making it more difficult to increase rents.
Tenancies this guidance applies to
Unless otherwise stated, this guidance applies to assured tenancies (including assured tenancies that were assured shorthold tenancies before 1 May 2026) in England.
You will probably have one of these tenancies if :
- It is on or after 1 May 2026
- The tenants have exclusive occupation over the whole property or a room within the house
- The rent is between £250 and £100,000 per annum
- The tenants are people rather than an organisation such as a company
- The property will be the tenant's main home
- The landlord does not live in the same property as the tenant.
Rent in advance
Since 1 May 2026, rent in advance for new tenancies has been restricted in several ways.
- Landlords and agents may not demand, encourage, or accept rent payments in advance before agreeing to enter into an assured tenancy.
If a landlord accepts rent at this stage, even a voluntary payment, it breaches the Tenant Fees Act, meaning the payment may need to be returned. It could also lead to a civil penalty. - After the assured tenancy is agreed upon but before the tenant moves in, the landlord/agent may demand up to a month’s rent or up to 28 days if the rental period is less than a month (the initial payment of rent). Any clauses demanding larger initial rent payments are null and void, though tenants may voluntarily pay more if they choose to.
- For all subsequent payments, landlords can only require the rent be paid during the rental period for which the rent is payable. As rental periods are limited to no more than a month in the Act, landlords are prevented from requiring more than a month's rent. Any clauses demanding advance rent payments are null and void, though tenants may voluntarily pay earlier or more if they choose to.
Please note that these rules only apply to tenancies entered into on or after 1 May 2026. You may continue to take rent in advance throughout the tenancy if your tenancy was entered into (ie signed) before this date.