13th
Aug 2021
Lucy Powell, Labour’s shadow housing secretary called landlords and letting agents increasing practise of demanding multiple months of rent upfront, as “outrageous”.
She recently told the i newspaper: “It’s outrageous that landlords and lettings agents are trying to price people out of a place to live. Requiring months and months of upfront rent is wrong, and brings the sector into disrepute.
“We have long urged the government to bring forward the Renters Reform Bill to tackle problem behaviour yet they have failed to prioritise this legislation, kicking it into the long grass.”
The shadow Housing Minister was responding to an article in the newspaper where it gave two examples of tenants in Manchester having to pay multiple months of rent upfront. One renter had to pay six months’ rent upfront which was £7,500, whilst another renter who was paying £1,200 rent per month for a property was expected to as pay much as £14,000 upfront.
A trade body and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have both made statements suggesting that landlords should try to steer clear of multiple months’ rents up front and look at other options such as insurance or guarantors, if they believe their renter’s income may drastically change for the worst.
Campaign groups firmly believe that agents and landlords who are making these demands as a way around the outlawing of many tenants’ fees, however the Tenant Fees Act does not make it illegal for landlords to charge multiple month deposits.
The newspaper claims that “as landlords lose their nerve due to growing number of tenants falling into arrears amid the economic fallout of the pandemic, it is resulting in growing instability for 4.5 million households – close to 20 million people – who rely on renting privately in England.”
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