Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to prohibit a landlord from (a) demanding and (b) accepting more than one month’s rent in advance in respect of a (i) tenancy and (ii) licence of residential accommodation tenancy.

The government recognise that demands for extortionate rent in advance place a considerable financial strain on tenants and can exclude certain groups from renting altogether.

We are very clear that the practice of landlords demanding large amounts of rent in advance must be prohibited.

Although it might be argued that the interaction of the new rent periods in clause 1 of the Renters’ Rights Bill, which are a month or 28 days, and the existing provisions of the Tenant Fees Act 2019, relating to prohibited payments, provide a measure of protection against requests for large amounts of advance rent, we believe there is a strong case for putting this matter beyond doubt.

The government is therefore giving careful consideration as to how best that might be achieved through the Renters’ Rights Bill.