Fees, rights and obligations
Lettings information
These properties are let directly by the landlord, in England. This page sets out what you can and cannot be charged, what protection you have, and what the landlord has to give you. It is written to be read, not to be skipped.
Permitted payments · Deposits · Renters' Rights Act · Safety & documents · Complaints · Privacy
Tenant Fees Act 2019
What you can lawfully be asked to pay
The Tenant Fees Act 2019 bans almost every charge that used to attach to renting. The list below is exhaustive: if a payment is not on it, it is a prohibited payment and cannot be required of you.
| Payment | Cap or condition |
|---|---|
| Rent | As stated in the advertisement and the tenancy agreement. Since 1 May 2026 the advertised rent must be stated in writing and offers above it cannot be invited or accepted. |
| Refundable holding deposit | Maximum one week's rent. Returned, or applied to the first rent or the tenancy deposit with your agreement, within 7 days of the tenancy being agreed. May only be retained in limited circumstances — for example if you provide false or misleading information, fail a Right to Rent check, or withdraw. |
| Refundable tenancy deposit | Maximum five weeks' rent where the annual rent is under £50,000. Maximum six weeks' rent where the annual rent is £50,000 or more. |
| Rent in advance | Since 1 May 2026, no more than one month's rent may be required in advance, and it cannot be taken before the tenancy is entered into. |
| Changes to the tenancy at your request | Capped at £50, or the landlord's reasonable costs if those are demonstrably higher. |
| Early termination at your request | Capped at the loss the landlord actually suffers. It cannot be used to recover more than that. |
| Utilities, communications, TV licence, council tax | Where the tenancy agreement makes you responsible for them. |
| Default fee — late rent | Only where rent is more than 14 days overdue, and capped at 3% above the Bank of England base rate, calculated on the outstanding amount for each day it is late. |
| Default fee — lost key or security device | The landlord's reasonable costs, evidenced in writing. |
Payments you must never be asked for
Referencing fees. Credit-check fees. Administration or "application" fees. Inventory or check-in and check-out fees. Renewal fees. Professional cleaning as a condition of the tenancy. Guarantor arrangement fees. Fees for a tenancy agreement, or for producing one. Compulsory insurance sold through the landlord. Any of these is a prohibited payment. If you have paid one, you can require it back and can apply to the First-tier Tribunal if it is not returned.
Your deposit
A tenancy deposit taken on an assured tenancy in England must be protected in one of the three government-approved schemes within 30 days of receipt, and the prescribed information must be given to you within the same period.
Scheme used for these properties: to be confirmed before letting.
If a deposit is not protected in time, or the prescribed information is not served, a court can order the landlord to repay the deposit and pay you between one and three times its value.
Holding deposits, in plain terms
A holding deposit takes the property off the market while checks are done. It is capped at one week's rent and it is your money until one of a short list of things happens.
You get it back if the landlord withdraws, if the landlord fails to take reasonable steps to enter into the tenancy within the deadline, or if the tenancy simply goes ahead — in which case it is normally credited against your first rent or your deposit.
It can be retained only if you provide false or misleading information that reasonably affects the decision to let to you, if you fail a Right to Rent check, if you withdraw, or if you fail to take reasonable steps to enter into the tenancy. Any retention must be explained to you in writing within seven days.
Renters' Rights Act 2025
What changed on 1 May 2026
The Act received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025 and its main provisions took effect on 1 May 2026. It is the largest change to private renting in England in more than thirty years.
Tenancies
- No more fixed terms. All assured tenancies are periodic. You can leave by giving two months' notice at any point.
- Section 21 is gone. "No fault" eviction has been abolished. A landlord must now rely on a specified ground and, where the ground is disputed, prove it in court.
- Rent increases once a year. Increases must be made by a section 13 notice and can be challenged at the First-tier Tribunal, which cannot set a rent above what was proposed.
Getting a tenancy
- No rental bidding. The advertised rent is the rent. A landlord or agent cannot invite or accept offers above it.
- One month's rent in advance, maximum. And it cannot be demanded before the tenancy is entered into.
- No blanket bans. Refusing to let to people receiving benefits, or to people with children, is unlawful.
- Pets. You have the right to request a pet, and consent cannot be unreasonably refused.
Still being phased in
Several parts of the Act commence in stages — including the Private Rented Sector Database, the new landlord ombudsman, the extension of the Decent Homes Standard to private renting, and Awaab's Law timescales for hazards such as damp and mould. Check the current position on GOV.UK or with your local authority's housing team rather than relying on a summary written at a point in time.
Landlord obligations
What you must be given, and when
| Item | Requirement | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Performance Certificate | Provided free of charge before you commit; minimum band E to let lawfully | 386A: C · Bayshill: E |
| Gas safety record | Annual check by a Gas Safe registered engineer; copy to you before you move in and within 28 days of each check | Confirm |
| Electrical Installation Condition Report | At least every five years; copy to you before occupation | Confirm |
| Smoke alarms | At least one on each storey used as living accommodation | Confirm |
| Carbon monoxide alarms | In any room with a fixed combustion appliance other than a gas cooker | Confirm |
| How to Rent guide | The current version, given to you at the start of the tenancy | GOV.UK |
| Deposit protection & prescribed information | Within 30 days of receiving the deposit | Confirm scheme |
| Right to Rent check | Required in England before the tenancy begins | Carried out at referencing |
| Property licence | Selective or additional licensing where the local authority operates a scheme | Check with Richmond upon Thames and Cheltenham Borough |
| Repairing obligations | Structure, exterior, and installations for water, gas, electricity, sanitation and heating — section 11, Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 | Landlord's responsibility |
| Fitness for human habitation | Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 — you can take action directly in court | Landlord's responsibility |
Complaints
Raise it with the landlord first, in writing, to mark@markb.biz. You should get an acknowledgement within five working days and a substantive response within fifteen.
If that does not resolve it:
- Disrepair, damp, mould, hazards or harassment — contact the environmental health or private-sector housing team at Richmond upon Thames or Cheltenham Borough Council. They have enforcement powers a landlord cannot ignore.
- Prohibited payments or deposit breaches — apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), or contact the local authority's trading standards service.
- Deposit deductions at the end of the tenancy — use the free dispute resolution service run by whichever protection scheme holds the deposit.
- Free independent advice — Citizens Advice or Shelter.
Once the Renters' Rights Act landlord ombudsman is operational, private landlords will be required to join it and its decisions will be binding. Update this page and register when the scheme opens.
Privacy
This site sets no cookies, runs no analytics and embeds no tracking. The only third-party content is the
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If you make an enquiry
- What we collect: your name, email, optional phone number, and whatever you write in the message.
- Why: to respond to you and arrange a viewing. The lawful basis is legitimate interests — responding to a request you initiated.
- How long: deleted once the property is let, or within six months if you do not proceed.
- Who sees it: the landlord only. Enquiry data is not sold, shared or used for marketing.
- Your rights: access, rectification, erasure, restriction, objection and portability. Email mark@markb.biz.
- Complain: to the Information Commissioner's Office.
If you go on to become a tenant, a fuller privacy notice covering referencing, Right to Rent and deposit protection will be provided with the tenancy agreement. Draft that separately.
A necessary caveat
This page is a plain-English summary of the position in England as at July 2026. It is not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for reading your tenancy agreement or taking advice on your own circumstances. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland operate different regimes. Where this page and the law disagree, the law wins.