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Ask your landlord to lower your rent - Business Insider
Getty Images; Alyssa Powell/BI Ask your landlord to lower your rent A boom in apartment building is giving tenants the power to demand lower rent from their landlords Getty Images; Alyssa Powell/BI By James Rodriguez You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email. 2026-05-13T08:24:01.233Z A few weeks ago, Marco Bario texted his landlord with an unusual request.Bario and his wife, Tracy Neill, rent a four-bedroom townhouse in Frederick County, Maryland, about an hour outside Washington, DC. When they got the place in June 2024, they felt lucky to find respite from a sizzling rental market. Recently, however, they'd noticed comparable rental homes in the area going for hundreds of dollars less — some landlords were even cutting asking rents in a desperate bid for tenants. With their lease renewal date fast approaching, Bario posed a simple question to his landlord: What would he consider a fair monthly rent for the next year?The text kicked off a cordial but pointed back-and-forth. "You've been great tenants," the landlord replied, but he felt the rent was "already within a fair range." Bario persisted, noting that similar four-bedroom listings online were charging in the low $3000s — well below the $3,650 he and Neill were paying. After a few more exchanges over the ensuing week, the landlord sent a message with a new offer: he'd lower their rent to $3,375. A sharp eye and a handful of texts had saved the couple $275 a month."We like the relationship, but the market's the market," Bario tells me. "Why not ask?"Such a request might have been met with a "😂" from a landlord just a couple of years ago. These days, though, many property owners are bracing for similar conversations. A historic wave of apartment construction, particularly in the lower half of the US, has put a lid on rent growth and shifted the balance of power in favor of tenants. Forced to compete with a glut of new units, property managers are more focused on keeping their buildings full than jacking up rents. It's not uncommon for lease renewal offers to go out with no change to the monthly payment, a far cry from the days of double-digit percentage increases at the housing reshuffle's peak. For prospective new tenants, landlords are doling out "concessions" like a month or two of free rent in hopes of getting them through the front door."It's definitely a renter's market right now," says Caitlin Sugrue Walter, the head of research for ...
Asking for rent in advance: guidance for local authorities
This guidance covers sections 8 and 9 of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. These rules will apply to assured periodic tenancies in the private rented sector. The rules will not apply to: tenancy agreements that were signed before 1 May 2026 payments of rent in advance that were made before 1 May 2026 This guidance will help local authorities understand when it is illegal for a landlord or letting agent to ask for rent in advance. Rent in advance is when a landlord or letting agent asks a tenant to pay rent before it is due. This includes paying rent before the tenancy starts or before it is due as agreed in the tenancy agreement. Under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, a landlord cannot ask for, encourage or accept rent before a tenancy agreement has been signed by them or their letting agent and the tenant. If a tenant pays their rent monthly, then a landlord can ask them to pay their first month’s rent at any time between signing the tenancy agreement and the tenancy starting. This is also known as the pre-tenancy period. If the tenant is paying rent more frequently than monthly, for example, weekly, the landlord can ask the tenant to pay up to the first 28 days’ rent during the pre-tenancy period. Once the pre-tenancy period has ended and the tenancy has started, rent payments will be payable on the rent due date agreed in the tenancy agreement. A landlord will not be able to require the tenant to make their rent payment before that date, regardless of what the tenancy agreement says. However, the tenant may choose to pay their rent early to help them budget. Once the tenancy has started the tenant can choose to pay any amount of rent early. Your responsibilities Local Weights and Measures Authorities are responsible for enforcement where a landlord or letting agent has asked for, accepted or encouraged a tenant to pay rent before the tenancy agreement has been signed. If you are a council that is not a local weights and measures authority, you may enforce rent in advance in your area. To take enforcement action against landlords asking for rent before a tenancy is signed, you will use the same process as set out in the Tenant Fees Act 2019 for prohibited payments. Local weights and measures authorities in England can investigate and issue civil penalties if landlords or agents have breached the rules. There is more information about enforcement duties and procedures in the civil penalty notice guidance. You can also find more information on investi...
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