Rent in Advance - Renters Rights Bill

I had missed this in the proposed Renters Rights Act;

It will be impossible to take rent for any period longer than one month – i.e. landlords will no longer be able to ask for three or six months’ rent in advance.

Some Landlords ask for a greater number of months paid ‘in advance’ when a tenant fails a credit check, or has circumstances that may suggest they are a higher risk applicant.

Surely this rule will leave those ‘higher risk’ tenants less able to secure a tenancy. If a Landlord cannot ask for more months payment upfront to alleviate risk, then they are likely to simply decline the tenant, leaving those tenants with less property choice.

Do others agree?

If you are one of those tenants perceived by many Landlords as being higher risk, you may wish to consider if you think this is a good idea or not. Tell your MP your thoughts to ensure that this new regulation is fit for purpose. Personally, I do not think it helps Landlords or tenants.

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It will be a disaster for international students
They don’t have a guarantor so how do you ensure rent payment
If there are no provisions for such cases I shall have to stop taking international students

I did have one this year on a rent guarantee at the behest of the university which I never do normally
I regretted it ….
I had no access to the policy as she paid for it and would not release any money through it
This is my only experience of this policy and tbh I wouldn’t do it again

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More people not able to rent then . Landlords carry on selling up

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I’m not sure who they consulted
It’s staggering how much they are not thinking about

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I knew that long term tenants can buy their social housing rented property , but did not realise that some can have a discount of 70% !! Yet not enough social housing property . Like trying to fill the bath and leaving the plug out

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That’s how Angela Raynor bought her social housing home and did it up to make a profit .
"all pigs are equal but some are more equal than others "………
George Orwell, Animal Farm
This is a famous literary quote

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You may not be able to ask , but can a renter offer it unsolicited?

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Can a renter offer what unsolicited ?

Karl11
I agree with you 100%

A_A
It is obvious to me that they are only listening to the charities like Generation Rent. Naming it The Renters Rights Bill says everything.
The private landlord doesn’t fit in with their socialist ideology. Lots of videos on the Renters Rights Bill on YouTube.

A video posted by Charles Kelly sums it up perfectly.

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6 months up front? Without the landlord asking?

this will come back to bite them in the behind . I am selling to owner occupiers .I will not sell to another landlord. In 5 years time renters will really be struggling ,not just now

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Well they do at the moment
Not sure what will happen under this government

Maybe there should be a ministerial rights bill on freebies ….

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Government and the various tenant groups don’t seem to realise how many prospective tenants are accepted because of section 21 and being able to pay in advance. Those 2 things being available for LLs must give a lot of tenants a chance who unfortunately won’t get that chance even now , never mind when they are finally removed.

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No, it will be an offence for landlords to accept more than 1 months rent in advance even if the tenant begs.

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Ok .It will not bother me too much . In 40 years I have only had 2 who offered to pay 6 months up front in the home rentals. . Those in my commercial unit pay three months in advance. . The shops I let pay monthly and they are a whole less bother . . so risk is spread.

I’ve only had one situation where I took 6 months in advance, the guy had split with his wife and had a ccj but was honest about his situation and seemed very genuine. His offer of 6 months advance rent and my being able to use section 21 if required meant we went along with the tenancy. He was fine and stayed for 3 years, never missed a beat. I wouldn’t take that chance today, even though I’ve only ever issued one section 21, which I did have to follow up with court possession order and bailiffs. That person also got the benefit of the doubt but didn’t work out.
There’s no way I’ll risk letting to anyone who isn’t 100% now.
I’m thinking hard about selling.

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Im confused. Rent is generally paid monthly, one month in advance. is this what you are expecting, or have you written something else into the contract? Is this via a custom clause, which contradicts the OR standard payment terms?

Openrent do not COLLECT, so they wont have set up anything wrong. They will prompt the tenant to set up a standing order / bacs payment to send the payments as per the standard terms on the contract.

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What about if the rent is held in an escrow account by a solicitor ?