Can you accept more than the advertised rent, and do you have to publish a price?

In England, the rental-bidding rules are in the Renters' Rights Act 2025, sections 56–57. They stop the rent rising above the published figure during letting, rather than merely banning aggressive agent behaviour.

Can you accept an offer above the advertised rent?

In England, a landlord or letting agent must not accept rent above the advertised stated rent, even if the prospective tenant offers more unprompted, because the Renters' Rights Act 2025 expressly bans accepting “an amount of rent under the proposed letting that exceeds the stated rent.” This means landlords cannot accept offers over asking price, and a letting agent cannot invite competing offers to drive the rent up above the advertised price. The rule applies to proposed assured tenancies in England; Wales is covered on the statute book, but Wales stopped creating assured tenancies on 1 December 2022, so the ban has no live effect there. Scotland has no equivalent ban on accepting or inviting a higher offer, and Northern Ireland has no rental-bidding ban. The practical shift is that asking rent now matters more: the lawful negotiation point is the advertised figure, not a later bidding round.

Do you have to advertise a specific rent - is offers over or price on application allowed?

In England, a rental advert or written offer must state one specific rent figure, so “offers over £1,400”, “price on application” and rent ranges are not compliant ways to advertise an assured tenancy. The Act requires that “the rent that is to be payable under the letting is a specific amount,” and government guidance puts the point bluntly: “A price range is not allowed.” A high-end let is not exempt merely because the landlord wants the rent negotiated privately; if the property is being advertised or offered in writing for an English assured tenancy, the figure has to be stated. In Scotland, the separate duty to state rent information applies only to property in a designated rent control area, not nationwide, and it is a disclosure duty rather than an English-style bidding ceiling. Abodient can hold lease records with the agreed rent and deposit scheme, which matters because the advertised rent and final rent now need to line up.

Who can fine you for breaking the rental bidding ban?

The fine cap is a flat £7,000 for either breach, with no lower first-offence figure, and tenants themselves cannot be fined — only the landlord or agent. In England, the fining body is the local housing authority, not the police, The Property Ombudsman, a rival letting agent or the tenant. The Act says a local housing authority may impose a financial penalty if satisfied “on the balance of probabilities” that the landlord or agent breached the section 56 advertising duty or acceptance ban, and the amount “must not be more than £7,000.” Government enforcement guidance also states that “Tenants cannot be found liable for rental bidding breaches,” so a prospective tenant who offers more is not the enforcement target. The risk sits on the person marketing, offering or accepting the unlawful rent, which is why agents and landlords need the published figure agreed before the advert goes live.

Last reviewed August 2026.

Sources

• Renters' Rights Act 2025, s.56(3)(b) — “(b) accept an offer from any person to pay an amount of rent under the proposed letting that exceeds the stated rent.” Source
• Renters' Rights Act 2025, s.56(2)(a) — “(a) the rent that is to be payable under the letting is a specific amount (the "proposed rent"), and” Source
• GOV.UK landlord guidance, rental bidding — “A price range is not allowed.” Source
• Renters' Rights Act 2025, s.57(1) — “A local housing authority may impose a financial penalty under this subsection on a person if satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the person has breached the prohibition imposed by section 56(2) or (3).” Source
• Renters' Rights Act 2025, s.57(3) — “The amount of a financial penalty imposed under this section is to be determined by the authority imposing it, but must not be more than £7,000.” Source
• GOV.UK local authority enforcement guidance, rental bidding — “Tenants cannot be found liable for rental bidding breaches.” Source
• Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, s.239(1)(d) — “(d) an assured tenancy (including an assured shorthold tenancy);” Source
• Housing (Scotland) Act 2025, s.22 — “(a) who proposes to let a property that is not an exempt property in a rent control area ("the advertised property") on an agreement that may give rise to a private residential tenancy, and” Source
• Housing (Scotland) Act 2025, s.22 — “must include the information mentioned in subsection (2) in the advertisement.” Source
• Private Tenancies Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, s.7 inserting Art 5D(1) — “This Article applies to any private tenancy except a controlled tenancy (within the meaning given by Article 40(4)).” Source
• NRLA/Dynata survey, August 2024 — “Only 10% of the landlords interviewed have benefitted from the "bidding war" phenomenon - in that they have receive a higher than anticipated rent - more than once.” Source