Rental Bidding

For most of the last five years, “bidding” on a rental property had quietly become normal. The asking rent was a starting point. Tenants chasing scarce stock — particularly in London, the South East and university cities — were nudged towards offering more in exchange for a better chance of being chosen. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 ends that practice in law.

From 1st May 2026, a landlord or letting agent in England cannot invite, accept, or encourage a prospective tenant to offer above the advertised rent. The advertised price is the maximum the property can be let for. Anything else is unlawful.

What “the advertised rent” means in practice

The advertised rent is the figure the property is marketed at — whether on a portal listing, a To Let board, a window card, an in-house tenant database or an email circular. The Act is deliberately broad. If the rent appears in any form of marketing material directed at prospective tenants, that is the figure the landlord is held to. The agent cannot quote one rent on the portal and a different one on the phone.

Practically, that means a property advertised at £1,500 per calendar month is a £1,500 property until the listing is taken down or re-advertised at a different figure. A tenant who offers £1,600 cannot be accepted at £1,600. The landlord has three lawful options: accept at £1,500, decline the application, or re-advertise the property at a higher figure for a fresh round of applications.

The penalty

Rental bidding is a civil offence. The penalty is a financial penalty of up to £7,000 for a first breach and up to £40,000 for a repeat or serious breach(or, at the local authority's discretion, criminal prosecution for the most serious cases). Enforcement sits with the local housing authority. The penalty is per breach — a portfolio landlord with several non-compliant lettings faces cumulative exposure that builds quickly.

The penalty applies to whoever committed the breach. A letting agent who accepted an above-asking offer on the landlord's behalf does not insulate the landlord — both parties can be penalised, and the landlord remains the ultimate duty-holder for what is done in their name.

What you can still do

The bidding ban does not change the landlord's right to set the rent. There is no statutory cap on the opening figure. A landlord can advertise a property at whatever market rent they consider appropriate, and can decline any tenant for any lawful reason (subject to the Equality Act 2010). The change is only about what happens between marketing and acceptance.

Specifically, the following remain lawful:

• Setting the asking rent at any figure — including a figure substantially above local averages. The market decides whether anyone applies.
• Re-advertising at a higher figure — if interest is strong and the original asking looks low, take the listing down and re-advertise at the higher rate. The new figure becomes the new ceiling.
• Choosing between equally-offering applicants on referencing grounds — affordability, employment status, guarantor strength, references. The Equality Act constraints continue to apply.
• Increasing the rent on an existing tenancy— through Section 13 and Form 4A only, once per tenancy per year, with two months' notice. That is a separate regime from the bidding ban.

Common misconceptions

“The tenant offered more — they wanted to.”

It does not matter who initiated the increase. The Act prohibits accepting an offer above the advertised rent regardless of who proposed it. A volunteered offer is still an unlawful acceptance if the landlord or agent takes it.

“We just took the highest of the asking offers.”

Multiple applicants offering the asking rent is fine — the landlord chooses between them on lawful grounds. Multiple applicants offering different figures, where the landlord picks the highest, is the textbook case the Act was written to stop.

“We added the extra as an ‘upfront cleaning fee’.”

The Tenant Fees Act 2019 has banned that for several years. Adding a non-rent fee to manufacture a higher effective price is a separate breach on top of the bidding offence. Both penalties can be levelled.

“The advert said ‘offers over’ — that's legal because it was disclosed.”

Disclosure is not a defence. “Offers over”, “OIRO”, “starting from” and similar phrasings are themselves the invitation the Act prohibits. The fact that the practice is open does not make it lawful.

Practical priorities

• Audit any live listing wording. Remove “offers in excess of”, “OIRO”, “guide price”, “starting from”, “best and final” — all of these now read as solicitations of an unlawful bid.
• Brief any letting agent in writing that bidding is not authorised. Get the agent to confirm in writing that their process complies.
• If you genuinely believe the asking rent is too low for the market, take the property off the market and re-advertise at the higher figure. That is the lawful route.
• Keep marketing records. If a complaint is later made, the audit trail showing the advertised figure and the figure at which the tenancy was let is your evidence.

This page is general guidance on the Renters' Rights Act 2025 in England, drafted to reflect the requirements of the Act. It is not legal advice on a specific letting. Enforcement is at local authority discretion and the maximum penalties are real — if a listing or process is borderline, get named advice before going to market.