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 an assessment of the potential impact of capping rent-in-advance at one month on prospective tenants.

Demands for extortionate rent in advance put financial strain on tenants and can exclude certain groups from renting all together.

The Renters’ Rights Bill will prohibit a landlord or letting agents from inviting, encouraging or any payment of rent before a tenancy has been entered into. In addition, a landlord will only be able to require up to one month's rent in the window between a tenancy agreement being signed and that tenancy beginning. Once the tenancy starts, landlords will be unable to enforce any terms in a tenancy agreement that require rent to be paid in advance of agreed due dates.

The effect of these measures will be that tenants can be certain that the financial outlay to secure a tenancy will not exceed the cost of a tenancy deposit and the first month’s rent, and that they will not be required to pay their rent earlier than agreed.