Should I Pay My Landlord Rent In Advance To Secure A Property?

Surely a deposit is whatever is documented as a deposit in the contract?

Can they really claim that everything but the first month was deposit if you have written agreement that they are paying rent in advance? It's not like they are getting it back at the end.

Interesting - I'd never have realised that advanced rent is seen (in the eyes of the law) as a deposit... That seems a bit crazy to me. I think students try and pay up-front a lot of the time (or their parents do) - would this still apply to them (I assume it does...) that may change things for a lot of landlords! Thanks for highlighting it :)

A more up to date article from the same source-

http://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2012/08/28/when-is-rent-deemed-to-be-a-deposit-update-on-johnson-v-old/

Another danger with paying 6 months in advance is what happens if the landlord doesn't pay the mortgage and the property is repossed?
Agents are legally obliged to pay the landlord up front if they receive the rent in advance. So the landlord has all the money and the tenant is evicted.

Hello Helen,
It's an interesting point.

If the landlord has a Buy To Let mortgage or permission to let, then the lender must honour the terms of the agreement. A tenant should certainly check before handing over 6 months rent.

If the landlord is letting the property without permission then a tenant still has a right to at least 2 months further stay at the property. Lenders are legally obliged to write to the occupants about repossessions, which is why tenants should always open letters addressed to the occupier and not automatically assume it is junk mail.

If an agent is involved, I would think a tenant may have some recourse against them for not checking the landlord had permission to let. However, as letting agents are unregulated and any cowboy can set themself up as one, this might prove difficult to pursue.

Something else to consider about receiveing rent in advance is to make sure this doesn't affect what constitutes a "period". If it is 6 months in advance and the tenancy has gone periodic is the period 6 months or 1 month?
The tenancy should clearly state that when the fixed term ends it becomes MONTHLY periodic or else a section 21 might need to be given 6 months in advance! This is because section 21s must give 2 months notice and 1 period. So if the period is 6 months - you are looking at 6 months notice!!!
This also links in with the need to be clear (as mentioned above) that it is rent not a deposit - as if the depsoit isn't registered you can't serve a section 21 anyway!

Somehow it can do good paying in advance if you landlord is credible but the in the other hand it can also be bad for you because what if the landlord doesn't pay the mortgage or the other stuff it could be a problem to you.

Can letting agents pay six or twelve months rent in advance to entice the landlord

I believe there are unique cases where offering advanced rent is appropriate and legitimate.

I recently wrote an article on a similar situation, where the tenant was moving to a new country and wanted to secure a "perfect apartment" months before hand. To entice the Landlord, she wanted to offer up to 6 months rent in advance.... without doing a walk through.

My advice to her was to go ahead and offer the advanced rent, but only if she was certain the property satisfied basic safety and comfort criteria.

Read her story on my blog; http://www.leasetalk.net/2013/02/should-i-pay-rent-in-advance.html

This has been requested by an estate agent of me just now. I am an architect and familiar with the principles of contract and indeed of what can go wrong with a dwelling. I, being Irish and moving to London was asked by the estate agent to agree to 6months rent in advance. I agreed to it in principle but had an issue as to how it was being handled. Firstly if something were to happen to the premesis in the first 6 months through no fault of mine resulting in me having to leave the premesis how am I to ensure I get my undue rent back. There was nothing in the contract or indeed to say that the advanced payment was taking place!!

In such circumstances in building contracts where monies need to be held in trust they are held in a joint account. Neither party can remove sums without the others consent to the bank. A joint account with a monthly direct debit to the landlords account would solve this. I requested this to but was they wouldnt have it.

My alternative was to have a clause put into the contract to cover it to some degree and also asked the agent for a copy of the landlords insurance to make sure it covered them for loss of rent in such an event as they cannot claim for loss of rent if they have been already paid rent. In other words it makes no odds to them to pay you back as they will get it from their insurer.

There should be clearer legislation on this. Indeed the practice should be limited to say 3 months or banned altogether. In ireland standard practice is that the landlord keeps the deposit if you terminate the lease and thats the end of it. Its clear and simple.

Good Blog by the way

Hi we have a problem. We have rented a house in July and we have paid rent six month in advance.
Now the Landlord ask us if we would rent for the house from January for six month again.
The terms are: we have to paid rent six month in advance at the same price again because the agency told us we didn't have credit history and therefore will be required to pay 6 month in advance.
But we have to pay for the first 6 month and we think we have credit history, bank account, credit card.
We don't understand that and we have wrote to the agency.
The agency told us that they ask to the Landlord for the monthly payments but we need to be re-referenced for the second time.
Answer: Is legally to pay for the sec time six month ? Or to be re-referenced for the second time? What can we do?
Sorry for my English I'm improving.
Thanks for your Help

can someone help me please we moved in to a house and we paid 6 month rent up front but they took £750 off us for a credit check but i dont get why because we payed the rent up front can they do that to us ?

hi Im having to move home again for the third time because my landlord is selling.
I have had problems with rent ie its been late and now they the esate agents wont rent me another property which I know is my fault I have never missed payments with any other landlord.
And really worried I wont be able to rent with agents again.
Can anyone offer some helpful advice.PLEASE

We are about to rent a property and because of a CCJ the landlord has asked for a year's rent in advance. We can do this but how are we covered if he turns out to be a bad landlord? How is our money covered? The estate agents usually release the money monthly but he wants the lot. I'm worried.

Would it be OK if I was to pay my landlord rent money early its supposed to be on the 23rd of every month but I don't always get paid esa on the 23rd I get paid after the 23rd on some dates and cases. I get my housing benefit on 23rd but not my ESA payment. I would rather pay him early then late but I don't know if this would cause problems. I pay him by standing order

I signed a 12 month lease but paid 6 months up front and my upfront rent is still covered for another 2 weeks but my landlord is saying my rent is now overdue. How is that possible when when my 6 months isn't up yet?

I'm an OAP downsizing to a one bed flat. The rent is £600 pcm but (according to the letting agent) my income is under the "legal" level for them simply to accept a month and a half in advance (which they call a deposit. So they have asked for 6 months in advance which they say is the UK "legal" requirement. My question is simple. Is there (as the agent would have me believe) a government law pertaining to rent advance periods being calculated according to the incoming tenant's income? Please answer as soon as is possible - thanks.

@ Mike,
No law or legal requirement.
But up to the landlord or his representative to choose who they want to rent to.
Industry standard is usually 2.5 times income to rent. (Personally I require >3.5 times).

Hi,
My daughter and her partner have just put an application in for a house
However they have said the rent is payable on the 1st of the month and her partner does not get paid until the 15th
They will be paying a deposit and first months rent in advance as you do
But they won’t budge on the payment date and have said if they are continually late (ie 14 days ) they could find themselves evicted
Even though they will be paying every month

Well, persistent late payment of the rent could indeed constitute grounds for a Section 8 eviction. That's just the way it works, whether it's a rental or a mortgage: you pay the amount due on or before the stipulated date or you're breaching the agreement.

In this case I don't see the problem, though. If your daughter and her partner pay for the first month before they move in, and her partner gets paid on the fifteenth of the month, then why wouldn't they still have the money for the rent come the start of the second month?

I realise I'm very late to the party with this comment, but I thought I'd share my experience...

I am a landlord and I accepted 12 months rent up front. For me it was initially the peace of mind that the rent was paid so one less thing to worry about.

The tenant had come from a divorce and the sale of the marital home meant they had the money readily available.
The deposit was paid into the scheme and I had 12months rent. Perfect I thought.

I can tell you now I won't make that mistake again.
I have conducted 2 out of 4 checks. The property has been seriously neglected. The garden is overgrown with Weeds, the interior is grimey, the windows are very dirty, the paint work is trashed and the carpets are ruined. The deposit will not even closely cover the wreckage they will be leaving. Not to mention the complaints from neighbours and the not cooperating with dates for landlords certificate and general maintenance.

I'm now faced with 2 options.
I serve a section 21 for their lack of basic maintenance to the property (which of course they agreed to in their tenancy agreement). This could be a costly option and I believe I would have to refund the remaining months of rent. Then pay re letting fees and all repair fees.

Or I serve notice at 10months,
Hope they don't squat and leave on the 12 months and then pay for repairs and re letting fees.

Either way I'm out of pocket and left with a mammoth task.

There just doesn't seem to be much favour for landlords. The country is crying out for housing and tenants can pretty much get away with whatever they please and not have to pick up the bill. I've been a tenant before and I was very cautious with the property knowing full well it wasn't really mine.
After the new laws this year which makes letting even cheaper for tenants, there really isn't much profit left in letting unless you own the house out right.

In a nut shell dont take 12months up front and don't have a 12 month tenancy agreement.

When I transferred to another flat within the same Housing Association I was asked to sign another contract and pay 4 weeks rent in advance. When I handed my termination of tenancy in I presumed I would not be paying rent for the last four weeks. Apparently not so. Is this legal. ? The Housing Associations are known for being a law unto themselves.

In the past with other Housing Associations I have handed in my notice and cancelled my Direct Debit for the last four weeks and have never had a problem as the rent was in advance. Totally at a loss with this as although I am no longer with this company and was checking up when I would get the re-payment of my credit balance on the account (advised by the Court Manager) and I was told I owed them 4 weeks rent.

Can they sue for this as I have been in at my new address for two months.
They at no point contacted me in correspondence asking for this amount.
Had I not contacted them regarding my credit balance I would not have known anything about this.

@Rebecca way, its not the fact you took 12 months rent in advance thats the problem its the fact you did not inspect the property every quater. did you take a bond off them?

My partner paid 12 months in advance and when that agreement ended he signed a new tenancy and was asked for another 3 months in advance, which he paid. We have now come to the end of three months and the landlord has asked for another 3 months. I checked the tenancy agreement which clearly states that a months rent is due on a certain day each month. It was only when I looked through the rest of paperwork that I notice the receipt for the advanced payment (which my partner signed) there is a small sentence saying you agree to pay another 3 months in advance. This was not explained at the time of signing the tenancy agreement and we felt a little rushed to sign so the letting agent could leave. They turned up at the door unannounced, I allowed them entry but said that I wasn't comfortable as my partner was not present and it is his property as I have my own house. I just think it is unreasonable and unfair that he is expected to find this amount of rent especially in these hard times when money is tight. The house is kept beautiful, my partner pays for all the repairs himself. This is the first visit we have had in 18 months. He is ahead with rent and paid this months 10 days early. Is there anything that can be done? Are we breaking any laws not paying in advance?
Any advise would be helpful