Free guide
A Guide to the Rules about Rent
7 – 10 minutes to read
In this guide
- Some general rules about rent
- What are the rules about rent when advertising a property to let?
- Can your landlord charge rent in advance?
- Can tenants challenge the rent?
- How should rent be paid?
- Can you withhold rent?
- Who is responsible for paying the rent?
- Rent after moving out or the sale of the property
- Rent and the deposit
- Rent after the death of the landlord or tenant
Before you start:
Before reading this guide you should check your occupation type using our guide:
Note that we don’t discuss the rent increase procedures as they are set out in the article here.
1. Some general rules about rent
Let’s start with a few general rules about rent which you may not be aware of.
- Rent is the payment made in return for the right to occupy the property (Lawyers describe it as the payment made for the ‘use and occupation’ of land).
- It does not have to be in cash and can be for a nominal sum – a ‘peppercorn rent’ can be a valid rent.
- At common law, rent is payable in arrears, unless the tenancy agreement says otherwise. Most modern tenancy agreements require rent to be paid in advance.
- Rent will be in arrears if it remains unpaid after midnight on the day it is due
- Where rent is payable monthly in advance, the whole month’s rent becomes due on the rent day. So, for example, if a tenancy starts on 1 January and no rent is ever paid, by 2 March three monthly instalments (January, February and March) will all have fallen due. The landlord could therefore rely on the rent arrears possession ground if the other legal requirements are met.
- Calling rent something else does not stop it being rent. So if you are renting from an organisation which say they are a club and who charge a ‘membership fee’ which entitles you to stay in a property, this is in fact rent, and in all likelihood you have a tenancy. Along with all the legal rights that go along with it.
- A landlord cannot normally charge interest on late rent unless the tenancy agreement specifically allows it. Even then, the Tenant Fees Act 2019 limits the amount of interest that can be charged.
2. What are the rules about rent when advertising a property to let?
This is a new rule introduced by the Renters Rights Act 2025 to prevent ‘rental bidding’. Which is where applicants will offer higher and higher rents in an attempt to persuade the landlord to rent to them.
Under the new rules, landlords must specify a ‘proposed rent’ when advertising a property. This proposed rent must appear in all advertisements (except ‘To Let’ boards), and landlords must not invite or encourage prospective tenants to offer more than that amount
This is set out in section 56 of the Act.
If the landlord
- advertises a property without stating a proposed rent, or
- invites or encourages anyone who offers to pay a rent higher than the proposed retn
A landlord who breaches these rules may be liable to a civil penalty of up to £7,000, which can be imposed by the local authority.
This situation begs the question “Can a landlord withdraw an advert and re-advertise the property at a higher rent?”
At the moment we don’t know. It does not appear to be specifically prohibited in the legislation. However, if it was clear that it was being done to avoid the rules, then it would probably be found to be illegal, although we will have to wait for the courts or the Ombudsmanschemes to decide – if a claim on this point goes before them.
Finally, if a landlord suggests to you that you might want to offer a higher rent, you should report this to your Local Authority housing enforcement team.
3. Can your landlord charge rent in advance?
This is another area of law changed by the Renters Rights Act. The reason being to stop landlords insisting on several months’ rent in advance as a condition of granting a tenancy, something which could make it difficult for people on lower incomes or receiving benefits to find somewhere to live.
It’s easiest to understand if we consider three situations:
1 Before the tenancy agreement is signed
Here there is an absolute prohibition on requiring or accepting rent in advance. Indeed, landlords can receive a civil penalty fine of up to £5,000 if they accept rent in advance of the tenancy agreement being signed or ‘entered into’ to use the wording in the statute.
2. Between signing and the tenancy start
Once the tenancy agreement has been signed by both parties (or arguably just by the tenants) and cannot be ended by one party without the consent of the other – the landlord can accept one month’s rent ONLY.
3. During the tenancy
During the tenancy, the landlord can require rent to be paid in advance, but only from the beginning of the rental period to which it relates.
So if a tenancy runs from the first day in the month to the last day in the month (as many tenancies do) the landlord can require tenants to pay rent on the first day of the month.
However, they can’t require tenants to pay rent before this. So, for example, they cannot require February’s rent to be paid in January.
Tenants, on the other hand, can pay rent in advance if they want to. So if a student wants to pay the whole term’s rent from their student loan upfront, to prevent them from spending it on something else, they can.
Similarly, a tenant who is going abroad for several months may choose to pay future rent in advance.
The point is, though, that it has to be the tenants’ decision. Not the landlord’s.
4. Can tenants challenge the rent?
The general rule is that rent should be a ‘market rent’. This is considered to be the rent a property might achieve if let on the open market by a willing landlord to a willing tenant, taking into account the property’s condition, location and other relevant characteristics.
There are two situations where tenants can challenge the rent:
- Within six months of the tenancy start, and
- After service of a Form 4A notice of rent increase, before the date the new rent is due to start
You can do this by using form MR1, which must be submitted by the specified deadline. The procedure is described as applying for ‘an open market rent determination’.
If you decide to do this, you will find online guidance here.
Details of the rules regarding rent increases can be found in the article here.
5. How should rent be paid
This is normally set out in your tenancy agreement. For example landlords can require rent to be paid
- By standing order (very common), or
- By a direct debit arrangement (eg using a service such as ‘GoCardless’), or
- By bank transfer
You should always retain proof of payment just in case this is ever challenged by your landlord. Bank statements, confirmation emails and payment receipts can all be useful if there is ever a dispute.
It is not a good idea to pay in cash, and if you do, you should always insist on a receipt.
Occasionally a landlord refuses to accept rent, perhaps because they insist that it is paid in a particular way, or because they wrongly believe that refusing payment will strengthen a future claim for rent arrears.
If this happens then
- keep trying to pay,
- keep evidence you have tried to pay,
- set the money aside,
- don’t spend it,
- write offering payment.
- you could also put it in a separate bank account
If the landlord later brings possession proceedings based on rent arrears, this evidence will help you defend the claim by showing that you were willing and able to pay but the landlord refused to accept the money.
6. Can you withhold rent?
In most cases, no, you can’t.
Many tenants think they are entitled to stop paying rent if their landlord fails to carry out repairs. Unfortunately, this is not normally the case. Your obligation to pay rent is separate from your landlord’s obligation to keep the property in repair.
Even if your property is in an appalling condition, this does not mean that you are legally entitled to stop paying rent.
If you simply stop paying your rent, you could find yourself in rent arrears, and your landlord may be able to bring possession proceedings against you.
If the property is in a poor condition, you may be entitled to compensation – but only if this is awarded by a Court.
For example, if your landlord brings possession proceedings for rent arrears, you may be able to defend the claim and make a counterclaim for compensation because of the property’s condition. Only if the court agrees and awards you compensation are you entitled to offset this against the rent.
Be aware that the compensation awarded to you could be less than the sum you have withheld, which could result in a County Court Judgment (CCJ) being made against you. This is not something you will want on your record.
Some tenants decide to withhold rent and keep the money in a separate savings account until the dispute has been resolved. If you choose to do this, do not spend the money. If the court ultimately decides that you should pay the rent, you will need to have the money available.
Before deciding to withhold rent, you should obtain legal advice if possible. In some circumstances there are safer alternatives, such as carrying out essential repairs yourself and claiming the cost back from your landlord, but strict legal rules apply.
7. Who is responsible for paying the rent?
This is the tenant/s. If you have signed a tenancy agreement jointly with other tenants, then you will all of you be jointly liable for the rent.
This is known as joint and several liability. It means that each tenant is legally responsible for all of the rent, not just their own share. So if you are in arrears, your landlord can
- Sue all of you for the outstanding sum – even if some of the tenants have paid their share
- Sue just one of you for the outstanding sum – even if that is not the person who failed to pay. For example, if one tenant is very wealthy and the others are not, the landlord can just bring proceedings against the wealthy tenant.
Although if the landlord recovers all the rent from one tenant, that tenant may have a claim against the others. However, this is a matter between the tenants and does not affect the landlord’s right to recover the full rent from any one of them.
The rent may be paid by someone else, such as the Department for Work and Pensions through Universal Credit or Housing Benefit, a parent or other family member, or a guarantor. However, unless the tenancy agreement says otherwise, the tenant remains legally responsible for ensuring that the rent is paid.
Permitted occupiers
If you have other people living with you, such as family members or lodgers, note that these are NOT responsible to the landlord for the rent and he cannot sue them for it. As there is no contract between them and your landlord.
You are their landlord, and any rent they pay will be due to you.
8. Rent and the deposit
If you have paid a deposit, note that you cannot withhold rent on the basis that your landlord is holding a deposit.
The deposit is a sum of money that is paid to compensate the landlord for any money due to him at the end of the tenancy. For example, for repair work, if the property is left damaged, or for cleaning costs if the property is dirty, at the end of the tenancy, after the tenants have moved out.
Depending on the terms of your tenancy agreement, the deposit money can, at that stage, be used to cover outstanding rent. However, during the tenancy the deposit should not be used and should remain intact.
One other point about the deposit money – if you have carried out repair work which should have been done by the landlord and have offset this against your rent after following the correct legal procedure, this is in some circumstances permitted in law.
However, if your landlord seeks to deduct this money from your deposit, note that this is not something the deposit scheme adjudicators are normally entitled to deal with.
So if you have made a lawful deduction, you should always claim the deposit money back through the courts. A Judge may find for you (if you have acted lawfully) whereas a deposit scheme adjudicator may not and might well make an award in favour of your landlord.
Remember: Once you choose the deposit scheme’s free adjudication service, its decision is usually binding. If your case involves a complicated legal dispute rather than simply a disagreement about the facts, it may be better to seek legal advice on the best way forward before agreeing to adjudication.
9. Rent after moving out or the sale of the property
It’s important to realise that a tenancy is something that continues (I sometimes describe it as a ‘thing’) until it has been ended in the proper legal way.
So a tenancy will not automatically end if
- you move out of the property, or
- your landlord sells the property
In those circumstances rent will continue to fall due.
If the tenant moves out
If you move out of a rented property without serving a notice to quit (which will end it after the notice period has expired) you will continue to be liable for the rent. And the landlord can sue you for it – unless the landlord has accepted that the tenancy has ended, for example by accepting a surrender or granting a new tenancy to someone else.
If the property is sold
The new property owner will be your landlord and will ‘stand in the shoes’ of your previous landlord.
The new landlord must serve notice on you giving their name and address and tell you about the new arrangements for rent. This is known as a ‘section 3 notice’ and is provided for in section 3 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.
There is no standard format for a section 3 notice, and it is often done by letter. Strangely, it is a criminal offence for a new landlord to fail to do this, although prosecutions are rare.
Note that landlords must also let you have an ‘address for the service of documents’ under s48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987. However, the section 3 notice will normally serve as this.
10. Rent after the death of the landlord or tenant
There are two situations here.
What happens about rent after the death of the landlord?
If your landlord dies, don’t panic. Your tenancy continues, and you cannot simply be required to leave because of the landlord’s death.
The tenancy does not end when your landlord dies. The property and the landlord’s rights and obligations will usually pass to the people dealing with their estate, known as the personal representatives, until it is transferred to the beneficiaries or sold.
It may take some time before the personal representatives are able to prove their authority, usually by obtaining a Grant of Probate (or, where there is no will, Letters of Administration).
So until this happens, it is best to withhold rent until you know who you are supposed to pay it to. For example, if you pay it to the wrong person you may be required to pay it again.
Saving it in a separate interest-bearing bank account is a good idea. Don’t spend it! You will be required to pay it in due course.
What happens about rent after the death of the tenant?
As this will not automatically end the tenancy, rent will continue to fall due.
In some situations, the tenancy will transfer to a family member under the succession rules, in which case the person succeeding to the tenancy will be responsible for the rent.
Otherwise, the landlord can claim rent from the deceased tenant’s estate, i.e., anything of value he or she owned at the time of death.
The best way to stop rent falling due is for their personal representative to serve a notice to quit on the landlord, unless you are able to reach agreement with the landlord to surrender the tenancy.
The law relating to tenancies after death can be complicated, particularly where succession rights may apply. If this situation arises, it is sensible to obtain legal advice as soon as possible.
This is the end of this article.
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