Landlords who wish to continue charging rent in advance after the Renters’ Rights Act comes into force on 1st May will be able to do so, but only if the tenancy agreements are clearly and correctly worded, a leading property lawyer has warned.

David Smith (pictured), Partner at Spector Constant & Williams, says the Act will prevent landlords from demanding more than one month’s rent in advance under new tenancies by inserting a new Section 4B into the Housing Act 1988.

This provision “prohibits two different mechanisms of rent in advance,” he explains in his post on LinkedIn, including both requests for multiple months’ rent upfront and arrangements such as taking the first and last month’s rent at the start of a tenancy.

Late amendment

A late amendment made during the Bill’s passage through the House of Lords, however, means the restriction does not apply to existing tenancies.

Smith says: “Existing tenancies with rent in advance deals can continue for the life of that tenancy… or at least the lifetime of the tenant.”

Many landlords may assume arrangements will continue when the wording does not support it.”

He stresses, however, that this is heavily dependent on how the tenancy agreement is drafted, warning that many landlords may assume arrangements will continue when the wording does not support it.

“If a tenancy is worded such that the rent is stated as payable every six months, for example, then that will be fine.

“But I see a lot of agreements where the rent is stated as being monthly but payable on two specific dates six months apart, and then nothing more is said.”

In those cases, he adds, “that form of wording likely means that the rent will not continue to be payable six-monthly in advance because that is not what the agreement says.”