Paying rent in advance

Key information

• A landlord or agent can request a tenant pays rent up to 2 weeks in advance, but no more.
• A landlord or agent cannot ask for further rent payments until all paid rent has been used.
• Tenants may need to consider that transactions, particularly in third-party rental apps, can take up to 3 days to clear.

Rent in advance - example

• A tenancy agreement begins on 1 November.
• A tenant pays 4 weeks rent as a bond and 2 weeks rent in advance.
• The 2 weeks rent in advance pays for the 1 – 14 November.
• The tenant does not have to pay rent again until 15 November.
• On that date, the tenant will need to pay another 2 weeks rent in advance for the 15 – 28 November.

Managing late payments or hardship

• If a tenant is late in paying the rent, the landlord or agent should send the tenant a reminder letter of the overdue payment. The landlord or agent could also contact the tenant by telephone.
• If a tenant regularly pays the rent late, the landlord could discuss changing the method of payment such as an automatic bank transfer.
• If the tenant is experiencing financial hardship, a repayment plan could be set up where the tenant pays the landlord the outstanding rent over a period of time, on top of the normal rent payments.

In certain circumstances, a landlord can take steps to end the tenancy.