Advanced Rent
Advance rent is rent that a tenant pays before it is legally due, usually as a condition of being granted a tenancy. Common examples are asking for six months’ rent upfront where there are concerns about affordability, credit history or immigration status.
Taking rent in advance can reduce the risk of early rent arrears and provide cash flow certainty. However, in England it must be handled carefully to comply with the permitted payments rules and the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. Key points are:
It is still rent, not a deposit. If you clearly label a payment as rent for specific future periods, it does not usually have to be protected in a deposit scheme. Mixing “extra rent” and security-style payments risks the whole sum being treated as an unprotected deposit.
You must not use advance rent as a way to dodge the statutory cap on tenancy deposits or other banned fees.
Once paid, you generally cannot demand that rent again for the same period, even if the tenant later falls into arrears.
Landlords should set out in writing exactly which months the advance rent covers, how it interacts with the regular rent schedule, and avoid applying it in ways that could be seen as excessive or exploitative of vulnerable renters.
