Rental bidding
Rental bidding occurs when prospective tenants compete for a property by offering more than the advertised rent.
Under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, this practice is banned in England to prevent ‘bidding wars’ that inflate local prices. From 1 May 2026, landlords and agents in England must include a specific rent price in any written advertisement (including online portals, social media, and digital messages). You are strictly prohibited from:
-
publishing a price range (a specific amount is required)
-
inviting or encouraging offers above the advertised price
-
stating you have received other bids to drive up the price
-
accepting an offer higher than the advertised rent, even if a tenant offers it voluntarily
Engaging in rental bidding can result in fines of up to £7,000.
In Wales, no such ban on rent bidding exists.
Checking your tenant
When a prospective tenant is interested in the property, you will need to check whether they will be a ‘good’ tenant who will respect the property and pay the rent. This is the case regardless of whether you are using a letting agent to advertise the property or are marketing the property yourself.
Remember that even good tenants can turn bad due to their personal circumstances; they may lose their job, be involved in the breakdown of a relationship, or become ill.
Initial practical vetting steps you should take when considering a potential tenant include obtaining:
-
a credit report, this will give an indication of whether the applicant is a responsible person financially
-
references, these can be supplied by the applicant’s bank, a former landlord, and their employer. You need to know if the applicant is good at paying the bills on time and whether they have ever been evicted from a property
You can make your own reference letter about a current or previous tenant with Rocket Lawyer’s Landlord reference letter template.
Consider using a letting agency to save you the time and labour of finding a suitable tenant. Ask for recommendations from fellow landlords and make sure you consider the additional costs associated with using letting agencies.
In England, landlords are also required to check the immigration status of prospective tenants. You should make a copy of a tenant’s original documents that permit them to live in the UK and keep this copy while they’re your tenant and for a year after. For more information, read Right to rent.
You’ll need to collect information from potential tenants in order to carry out these checks.
Consider asking for a guarantor
If you are unsure whether a tenant can pay the rent, consider asking for a guarantor. A guarantor is a person who agrees to pay the rent on the tenant’s behalf if the tenant does not. Guarantors are often used by students, people renting for the first time, and those who have moved to the UK from abroad.
Anyone can act as a guarantor (provided they have a good credit history and income/savings above a certain amount), but they are often parents, close relatives, or even guarantor companies.
You should vet a guarantor by carrying out a credit check or asking for proof of their income, savings, or other financial details.
For more information, read Guarantors.
Avoid discrimination
When considering potential tenants, remember that it is illegal for landlords to discriminate against tenants on the basis of their protected characteristics. The Equality Act 2010 sets out the following protected characteristics in relation to housing matters:
-
gender
-
sexuality
-
race
-
disability
-
gender reassignment
-
religion
-
pregnancy or maternity
From 1 May 2026 (in England) and 14 June (in Wales), the Renters' Rights Act 2025 also makes it illegal to discriminate against:
-
people who receive benefits (eg Universal Credit)
-
families with children
Examples of unlawful discrimination include:
-
refusing to rent property out to someone because of their race or sexuality
-
imposing different rental terms on prospective tenants based on a disability
-
treating a prospective tenant differently because of their religion
-
refusing to rent to a family with children without assessing their individual circumstances
-
stating 'no DSS' or 'no benefits' in a property advert
-
only carrying out right to rent immigration checks based on a prospective tenant’s ethnicity
-
refusing to accept tenants simply because they’re receiving any form of benefits
As landlord, you must consider every prospective tenant on an individual basis. While you still have the final say on who you let your property to, and you can still carry out affordability checks to ensure the tenancy is sustainable, you cannot apply blanket bans against these groups. Any decision not to let must be based on a legitimate, objective reason rather than the tenant's status as a parent or benefit recipient.
For more information on discrimination in the rental market, see Shelter England or Citizens Advice Wales.
If you have any questions about vetting prospective tenants, Ask a lawyer.
