News last week on Property118 about amendments in the Renters’ Rights Bill, which could allow tenants to move in without paying rent sent a shiver down every landlord’s spine.
The new amendment prevents landlords from accepting rent in advance of a tenancy agreement or more than a month’s rent in advance.
Advance rent agreements offer security to landlords who entrust tenants with properties worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. They prevent tenants without a guarantor from paying one month’s rent and living rent-free for as long as it takes to evict them under Section 8 (currently estimated at 9 –12 months).
They make students, whose grants are paid per term, a safer choice for landlords. Tenants wishing to pay upfront to secure tenancy will lose their advantage. These and any group of people who might be perceived as risk will be the losers in a market where landlords can choose a safer option.
It will offer little benefit to tenants with good credit checks and guarantors.
And the winners? Hostile tenants with less to lose.
Continue reading Who Wins when landlords’ hands are tied? And who loses?