r/rentingUK

The owner/agent of this place is telling me they can't let me view the place, let alone rent it, unless I have a guarantor who owns a home and earns good money. They said I will find that guarantor requirements are now the norm across the rental market and that I would struggle to find anywhere that doesn't require one these days. I questioned this as I thought this was only for people with poor credit and if the monthly income is less than 3x the monthly rent, but they insisted it's a standard requirement now. Is it really that bad now in 2026?

I earn ~£32.9k, have been employed at the same company for 7+ years, my credit score is "excellent" with zero missed payment history, I have £20,000+ in savings, and I proof of ID/address/income ready to send. The place in question is £725pcm rent, so my income is 3.7x my salary, well above the requirements.

The only people in my family who own a house are retired and don't earn enough from their pension to be a guarantor. Of the small circle of friends/acquaintances I do know, most of them rent, but the ones who own generally wouldn't trust being a guarantor for someone.

All I can do is keep going and see if I can find a landlord who doesn't require a guarantor. Is there anything else I can do?

Hello! Apologies for any errors here, it’s my first time positing in this subreddit!

I am looking for advice for a dispute I am having with my letting agents.

I have moved into a fully furnished flat today and was surprised to find bedding & a fully stocked kitchen! I reached out as I wasn’t expecting this - I’ve moved into other furnished properties in the past and this has never been the case previously.

The cupboards are all completely full of plates, mugs, glassware, pots and pans and other random kitchenwares. The beds have old pillows and quilts left on them.

I reached out to the letting agents to see if this could be removed or if I could dispose of them - thinking they had been left by previous tenants. The letting agents have told me I must store every item for duration of my tenancy and that if I wish to store them away I must return them to exactly how it was found. This answer remained the same after exchanging photos of the very well stocked cupboards. Surely this can’t be correct?

Surely random spatulas with mysterious burn stains and old stained bed pillows shouldn’t be expected in a fully furnished flat? The storage situation in the new flat is a little challenging, so storing all of this away wouldn’t be ideal!

Am I in the wrong here? Is there anything I can do?

Thank you all!

Hi everyone, just looking for some advice as I’m not sure if this is normal when renting in England.

I paid a holding deposit on 1 August for a property I'm due to move into soon. My referencing has been going ahead, but I still haven't received a tenancy agreement to review or sign.
I asked the letting agent about it and was told that the landlord/client handles the tenancy agreement themselves, rather than the agent, and apparently their process is to provide the agreement on the actual move-in day.

I've asked whether I can at least have a draft copy beforehand so I can read through all the terms before moving in, but I'm waiting to see if the landlord will provide one.

I haven't paid the tenancy deposit or first month's rent yet — only the holding deposit.
Has anyone experienced this before? Is it fairly normal for a landlord to wait until move-in day to provide the tenancy agreement?

I'm worried about turning up on move-in day and either being presented with terms I wasn't expecting or, worst case, there being no tenancy agreement at all.

If the landlord doesn't provide an agreement by the move-in date, would I be entitled to ask for my holding deposit back, considering I'm still willing to proceed with the tenancy and haven't withdrawn?
Any advice or similar experiences would be really appreciated. Thank you!

Hi all,

Just looking for advise, from renters and landlords on the following.

My credit score is tanked thanks to leaving a financial controlling relationship. I do have the funds to pay for 6 month in advance along with the required deposit. I want to provide the landlord with security I will pay rent on time, every time. is this the best way? I know the RRB doesn't alow them to request an additional payment but it doesn't stop me offering advanced rental payments once the documents are signed (if i understand this correctly).

As the house is via an agent, would you be honest and up-front with this information - offer 2 months in advance or the 6? What is your experience?

I work full time and can provide wage slips and a reference. I have no rental history as i lived in an owned property for 20 years with my ex partner (her mortgage).

Thanks

My son has recently left a private student rental flat where the utility bills were included up to an allowance. The Landlord has claimed the allowance has been exceeded and wants to deduct from the deposit. He has provided a basic spreadsheet and a lot of bills. I have gone through the bills and created my own spreadsheet working out the totals for the 5 pricing periods based on the meter readings, the KW used and the standing charges. There are £300 of duplications and a small amount of charges outside the Tenancy dates. I have moved these into a separate column in his spreadsheet and now his and mine are fairly close. The Electric is on Smart Meter and I have all the meter readings I need. The gas is estimated throughout including the moving date and leaving date. There is supposedly £900 of water charges to include but we are yet to see any bills or readings. The deposit is held at the DPS and I am aware of the process should it go there. The Landlord has ignored my calculations and has stated his is accurate. Having pointed out the errors, this is starting to look like a deliberate attempt to make money. Can anyone advise?

I talk to my landlord via my agent. There have been several issues raised with regards to the showers not working, taps leaking, fridge not closing and more.

The agent will ask the landlord to fix them, then tell me the landlord has declined to fix them. I tell the agent I believe they should, but the landlord holds firm and refuses.

I contact Shelter, I wait on hold for 2 hours and give up.

I contact the council, each email takes weeks to get a reply on. They won't answer the phone.

I contact my local councilors, they show initial interest then stop replying.

Renting in London has me feeling totally trapped and mentally exhausted. I wish landlords like this, who have elite jobs in the city and multiple properties, were held accountable.

I full time job and should be able to expect more.

We are due to move into a house on the 1st September. All referencing has passed. I was then told by the agent we would receive the tenancy agreement shortly. But a week later we are still waiting. This is with Leaders. Is this normal? Its worrying as we are moving with our children and its now 2 weeks until the landlord wants the tenancy to start. I have been told its with the tenancy department and probably other people's tenancies need doing before ours, never heard of that before.. any advice on this please

Hi all, I’m looking for some advice about my housing situation in England, particularly whether the agreement I have been given is genuinely a licence or whether I may actually have tenancy rights.

I’ve lived at the property continuously since 12 July 2024. My agreement is with Zoom Inns and is described throughout as a “Residential Licence Agreement” for a short-term stay.

It says that the booking is for leisure, business or temporary purposes and that I am not entitled to a tenancy, an assured shorthold tenancy, an assured tenancy or statutory protection under the Housing Act 1988.

However, the actual arrangement seems quite different from what I understand a typical licence to be.

I have always occupied the same room.

The room has a lock and is for my exclusive use.

I have exclusive use of the en-suite bathroom.

There are no housekeeping services in my room.

I can have guests without needing specific permission, subject to the agreement.

I share a kitchen with the other occupiers.

Zoom Inns/the landlord does not live at the property.

My current rent is £675 per month.

I have now been given 14 days’ notice that my “licence to occupy” will come to an end and that I must leave. No reason has been given.
They have offered me alternative studio accommodation in Harborne for £700 per month, but this is more expensive than my current accommodation.

Interestingly, my agreement itself appears to provide for 30 days’ notice, rather than 14 days.
So I have a few questions:

1. Is 14 days’ notice actually sufficient? If the agreement says 30 days, can they simply give me 14 days? If this is legally a tenancy rather than a licence, would I be entitled to substantially more protection/notice?

2. Could this be a “sham licence”? Does the fact that the agreement calls itself a licence actually matter if, in reality, I have exclusive possession of a particular room and have lived there as my home continuously since July 2024?

3. Could I actually be an assured tenant/AST or otherwise have greater protection? Are there particular facts that would determine this?

4. Should this property be registered/licensed as a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO)? There are five separate rooms occupied by different people, with shared kitchen facilities, and the landlord does not live there.

5. What happens to my deposit? Should it have been protected in a tenancy deposit scheme, and does the fact that my agreement is labelled a licence change this?

I’m particularly worried because I could potentially stay temporarily with my boyfriend’s parents if I had absolutely no choice, but they live far enough away that it would make getting to work very difficult as I can’t drive and would have an hour and a half commute each way.

I’m trying to understand my position before agreeing to leave or accepting the alternative accommodation.

If anyone has experience with residential licences, sham licences, HMOs or housing law in England, I’d really appreciate any advice on what my actual rights might be and what steps I should take next.

My landlord who rents an expensive flat in expensive part of city did not provide a clean, ready to move in place - also in name of furnishing a lot of soiled and stained and somewhat damaged furniture and other items were left. As at the time of viewing there was another tenant leaving there, and covered most seats under blankets in the name of cosy vibe, I did not suspect anytthing as structurally and layout wise flat is beautiful. 

But upon arriving, I found a lot of faults in every room of the flat including the broken items in the kitchen. On complaining, landlord got upset and asked me to give them a month long notice and leave. Now the same landlord is blaming me that I did not provide enough time for them to find next tenants. I am pretty worried about my deposit not being returned. Deposit is under protection scheme but landlord is suggesting they have a control over it. I have already wasted money on advance rent. The flat has so much potential but ever saying moving in but I am so stressed with one problem or the other. I am already in a highly stressful job and landlord being very proud and dismissive of the issues are causing me futher stress. Rent is pretty high too. Not sure it's relevant - he previous tenant also left breaking the lease but giving some excuse for leaving. I asked neighbours for a cleaner and they said they thoght it's an Airbnb as nobody lived there for long. 

My housemate has told me this morning that she’s moving out of the house and in with her partner.

She has yet to let the estate agent or the landlord know and hasn’t given me any sort of timeframe of when this is happening, just that it is.

I cannot afford to rent the place on my own and have no idea what to do. I can’t email the landlord or estate agent as I don’t know when she is planning on doing this, I have asked her and she just told me that she doesn’t know as they’re going through our local council.

I’m slightly worried that she is just going to up and leave within the next few weeks as this afternoon she seemed to be packing and is refusing to talk or even look at me.

If she does end up doing this, what are my next steps? Do I alert the landlord and estate agents in the morning or do I just wait for her to do it? Not only that but what do I do once she does move out?

I got a kitten 3 months ago and I want to move out of my flat because it's too small. I am completing a tenancy application and I'm worried if I say I have a cat (vaccinated, insured, etc.) that the landlord will just go with someone else who doesn't have a pet.

While the new Renters Rights mean that the landlord couldn't unreasonably say no to a pet if we make the request during the tenancy, there is nothing stopping a landlord from declining an application if you already have a pet.

I'm not sure if I should be honest and risk not getting the flat, or if I should wait until the tenancy starts and request my cat on the first day.

I could potentially not move her in until they approve so that it's technically not a breach of contract. They don't have fair grounds for refusal, I even looked the building up on the gov website and it says the headlease has no restrictive covenants. But I'm afraid that this will immediately harm my relationship with the landlord.

Help, please!!

Hi all,

My friend and his flatmates gave the notice beginning of May to finish the tenancy, all the tenants agreed with landlord/agency to end the contract on 31/07/2026.

They all move out of the property on the date agreed except one of the tenants the stays living in the property.

Now the agency is chasing them that they left the property to claim the current monthly rent even if they are not living in the property and moved out on the date agreed.

Also, the remaining tenant owes to the other tenants the previous 2 monthly rent and bills which is around £2000.

They are a bit lost as they don’t know anyone that has experience this situation.

Does anyone has any advise?

Thank you in advance

Hello I’m posting on behalf of my sister in law who stood guarantor for her daughter last year and who needs advice on where she stands now legally after the renters rights bill was introduced.

My niece and her then boyfriend rented a flat, my SIL stood as guarantor on a fixed 12 month tenancy agreement, the BF’s mum stood guarantor for him and the rent is split 50/50 between them. They split up around Christmas and he moved out but has continued to pay his half of the rent in full and on time.

SIL signed the tenancy agreement 21st May 2025 for the tenancy to begin 7th July 2025. This was done via a portal, the link to which no longer works for her to access the agreement. She was emailed the same day by letting agents stating the following (copied directly from email) -

“If their Tenancy Agreement changes in any way, we may ask you to re-sign the updated contract, You'll receive copies of the Guarantor Agreement and Tenancy Agreements by email once the Tenancy Agreement has been signed by all parties.”

They were never emailed to her. She has on multiple occasions asked for them to be sent but has not received them.

Her daughter has not paid her rent consistently since around Christmas. When SIL was contacted by letting agents about the arrears niece said her ex bf had not paid his share and she had paid hers. SIL was able to access the payments and saw it was ex BF paying his share. My SIL has already paid arrears off in March and again there is an outstanding amount in arrears.

Prior to the renters rights bill my SIL intended on withdrawing from being guarantor when the 12 month tenancy ended. She has spoken to the letting agents two weeks ago again asking for a copy of the tenancy agreement she signed (which she read in full at the time but does not remember if it legally ended the tenancy 6th July 2026 or converted to a rolling tenancy as is typical). She told them she will fulfil her obligations as guarantor till 6th July 2026 but they have been aware for over 6 months that she has been an unreliable tenant and why have they not taken steps to end her tenancy. They refused to answer her question and hung up on her. She has still not been provided with a signed copy of the tenancy/guarantor agreement.

She has no contact details for the ex bf to liaise with him about ending the tenancy - he is still on the hook for half the rent and SIL has no idea what his plans are.

SIL now feels like she is being held hostage to cover her daughters half of the rent with the letting agents not attempting to end the tenancy. She made it clear to letting agents and daughter at the time of standing guarantor she would only do so for the 12 month fixed tenancy agreement and now that no longer applies. She is worried they could take her to court for non rent payment after 6th July 2026 as she feels her obligation ended on that date as per the original agreement.

What are her legal rights now as guarantor?
Can she withdraw from the agreement?
Is she liable for any and all non rent indefinitely if letting agents and tenants refuse to end the tenancy?

Any advice on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated. Had she had know last year the renters rights bill was being introduced she never would have agreed in the first place as now it feels like she is stuck in limbo paying rent and cannot end it. This is causing her immense anxiety and stress.

Thank you.

TDLR guarantor stuck paying rent arrears on tenants behalf after 12 month fixed tenancy ended but also no longer applies due to renters rights bill. Help needed!

Hiya, just trying to get some information on the current laws given the new changes in may, my girlfriend moved into her flat in December 2022, having paid her security deposit and has been living there happily ever since, last month her landlord issued her 3 months notice on the flat to retake possession to move in, which she correctly retorted that 4 months is the legal requirement given the law change.

Upon asking for information about her deposit information she was sent a lot of information but crucially not the certificate number and when pushed further it’s come to light it was never deposited.

My understanding of the rules that it is a 1-3x repayment penalty, but given it’s been multiple years this could be multiplied further. My partner would prefer to work this with her landlords amicably without the need to go to court but while still penalising them as they had a good relationship, but I think she should work out roughly what she would be entitled to. They are also trying to renegotiate the notice period down in exchange for a greater deposit return, but given the difficulty in finding a suitable place to rent it could well be more difficult to move out before then anyway.

Thanks in advance!

I've just moved into a new place in London, and we have what I think is a pay-as-you-go meter in the house (with the little key and everything), and the previous tenants were with British Gas. We received a letter with the old tenant's reference number that our letting agent said was for him to pay (as it was a bill from the period in which the house was unoccupied). This old reference number does not work when we try to create an account or login or anything. The letting agent said to wait for a welcome letter from British Gas that would contain a new reference number for us to create and set up an account with, however it has been a week and a half and still nothing.

I've looked everywhere I thought to online and there seems to be no way to request a reference number or get in contact with British Gas over the phone or even with their AI bs without having an account, which I CAN'T MAKE WITHOUT A REFERENCE NUMBER. I feel like I'm missing something incredibly obvious, because it should not be this difficult to give this company my business, right?

Is there a way I can request a reference number without having an account, or a way to create an account without one? Do I need to ask my letting agent/landlord for some specific documents? Has anyone else had this problem? I feel like I'm losing it. Thanks ya'll

I live in England. I got a kitten 3 months ago and I want to move out of my flat because it's too small. I am completing a tenancy application and I'm worried if I say I have a cat (vaccinated, insured, etc.) that the landlord will just go with someone else who doesn't have a pet.

While the new Renters Rights mean that the landlord couldn't unreasonably say no to a pet if we make the request during the tenancy, there is nothing stopping a landlord from declining an application if you already have a pet.

I'm not sure if I should be honest and risk not getting the flat, or if I should wait until the tenancy starts and request my cat on the first day.

I could potentially not move her in until they approve so that it's technically not a breach of contract. They don't have fair grounds for refusal, I even looked the building up on the gov website and it says the headlease has no restrictive covenants. But I'm afraid that this will immediately harm my relationship with the landlord.

Help, please!!

I rented a fully furnished property in London. I got a bunch of random trivial things to claim on my deposit which I have no idea of, please advise on the best way to dispute these bullshits in the TDS:

• Three missing photo frames (what fucking photo frames)
• One set of keys not returned (returned all, the checkout reports says one set missing, but there was no document on the # at checkin)
• Under-unit kitchen lighting no longer working (I told him long time ago)
• Broken slat to the garden bench (that shitty trash outside, it was like that before, never used it)
• Unauthorised repainting of part of the lounge ceiling, which will need to be reinstated (we never painted anything in his fucking house)
• Broken animal ornament (what the fuck is that)
• Staining to the bedroom mattress and wardrobe (I don't know, isn't it part of normal wear and tear)
• Damage/loosening to the hallway mirror (wtf, a mirror loosening?)
• Additional chipping/damage to the kitchen sink, which I am inspecting (no idea)
• Removal of plastic sheeting/tape applied to the entrance door/transom and any associated cleaning/making good (what does it even mean)

Me and my partner have been living in rented accommodation for the past 14 months.

We are trying to rehome my grandmothers cat, and we are the most suitable place for her. I asked my landlord in writing whether we could get a pet as the Renters Rights Bill outlines, and he has come back saying that I would need to agree to have the carpets professionally cleaned at the end of tenancy.

Are they allowed to ask this?

It was my understanding that the carpets had to be in the same condition as when we started living there, and he couldn't ask us to agree to clean it professionally at end of tenancy as of right now.

How can I reply to him?

Thanks in advance!

Hi all,

Quite taken aback by this situation so would appreciate any advice.

We are three people sharing what is essentially a four bedroom house in London. Two of us have been here for \~5 years, one of us \~4.

12 months ago, our previous housemate moved out, and Housemate A's partner moved in. Unfortunately, partner was still in the process of sorting their residency, so we confirmed with the letting agent that we would be reducing the house to three tenants, but we split the rent four ways.

Housemate A's partner unexpectedly moved out towards the end of 2025. Instead of replacing partner, Housemate A opted to pay partner's share of the rent.

Housemate A is now moving out, leaving the two remaining tenants to need to find two new housemates to cover both rent portions.

Upon informing the letting agent of this, they have proposed an increase of 28.5% to the monthly rent. As we have not been splitting the rent three ways, this represents an absolutely monumental rent increase.

What are our rights here to push back? A small percentage increase is expected, but this will put significant financial strain on us.

\- Is it worth us informing the letting agent that Housemate A was paying half of the rent? From a moral perspective, they would understand the purpose of receiving a new housemate was to keep the house affordable, not to reduce our rent.

\- Realistically,it would be more worthwhile to stay as a three person tenancy to avoid this increase. Is this ultimatum worth suggesting? If we were to do so, to split the current rent three ways would also cause significant financial strain.

On the house, it is worth noting that it is quite run down. We have been very easy to manage tenants. We have had to wait for things like leaks to be fixed, and we have put up with a very damp bathroom for a long time. It is also worth saying that rent increases during the \~5 year tenancy have been annual and within reason.

This is all for now but any help very very much appreciated, thank you.