The Act changes how a property is marketed and who you can turn away.
What changed
- Every advert must state the rent. You cannot invite, encourage or accept offers above it.
- You cannot ask for or accept any rent before the tenancy agreement is signed. A holding deposit of up to one week's rent is still allowed.
- Once the tenancy starts, the tenant cannot be required to pay more than one rent period in advance.
- You cannot refuse tenants because they have children or receive benefits. That includes adverts saying ‘No DSS’ or ‘No children’, and indirect versions such as larger deposits for those groups.
- Terms in mortgages, superior leases and new insurance policies that would require you to discriminate in this way no longer bind you.
What it means for you
- Set the advertised rent carefully. It is now the most you can get.
- The old practice of taking six or twelve months' rent upfront from tenants with thin credit history has ended.
- Write down a tenant selection policy based on affordability, references and credit, apply it to everyone, and keep a record of each decision.
- Guarantors are still allowed, provided they are not used to exclude families or tenants on benefits.