Renting in England: the Right to Rent check, the deposit cap and what a landlord may not ask

The English rental market is fast, in writing and — for whoever knows the rules — better protected than its reputation. For you as a newcomer it comes down to three things: the compulsory status check, the capped amounts, and the scheme your deposit should be sitting in.

The Right to Rent check: compulsory, and you are prepared

In England a landlord may only let to you after a Right to Rent check: they are legally obliged to check whether you are in the country legally, and must do so for all adult tenants — checking only foreign-sounding names is explicitly banned. You prove your status with a share code from your UKVI account (the same kind of code as for your employer, valid for ninety days). Have that code ready before the viewing: in a market where homes are gone within days, the candidate whose paperwork is done wins.

Count on referencing as well: an agency that goes through your identity, residence status, credit history and employer. As a newcomer you have no British credit history yet — an employer's statement with your salary, or offering a few months' rent in advance, is then the usual answer.

The amounts: capped by law

Since the Tenant Fees Act the costs around a tenancy agreement are tightly capped, and the official How to Rent checklist lists them:

• Deposit: at most five weeks' rent (six weeks for an annual rent above £50,000 — then you're not renting an ordinary house).
• Holding deposit: at most one week's rent, and refundable. With this you take a home off the market while the checks run.
• Banned: viewing fees, contract fees, check-out fees and "third party fees". A landlord or agent who asks for them anyway is breaking the law — and you may simply say so.

The deposit belongs in a scheme — check that

Your deposit may not stay in the landlord's account: within thirty days it must be paid into one of the three approved protection schemes (Deposit Protection Service, MyDeposits or Tenancy Deposit Scheme), and you should receive notice of that. No confirmation after a month? Ask about it — it's your first signal that this landlord takes other rules loosely too. On leaving, the deposit must be returned within ten days once you agree on the amount, and in a dispute the scheme decides, not the landlord.

Before you sign

Read the contract (usually an assured shorthold tenancy of six or twelve months) and record the condition of the home on day one with photos — the inventory report is your evidence when you move out. And the local tax is not in the rent: council tax comes on top for you as a tenant, so count it in before you say yes to a monthly amount. English tenancy law is moreover in motion (the government is renewing the rental legislation); the current rules are always in the official How to Rent guide — the source under this article.