Rental Safety Guides UK | Before You Rent
Before You Rent Guides

Rental safety guides for UK renters.

Clear, practical guides to help you check rental listings, avoid scams, ask better questions, and understand what to verify before sending money or signing a tenancy.

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Rental scam red flags to check before you pay

Learn the common warning signs in fake or risky rental listings, including payment pressure, missing addresses, unusually cheap rent, copied photos, and unsafe payment requests.

Read the red flags guide →
Checklist

Before you pay checklist

Tick through the key checks before sending a deposit, holding fee, rent, or personal documents.

Open checklist → Message helper

Questions to ask

Generate a copy-and-paste message to send before viewing, paying, or signing.

Generate questions →

Useful tools

These tools help you check a listing and slow down before making a risky payment.

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Rental scam checker

Paste listing details and answer a few questions to get a simple risk report.

Use checker → ✓

Payment checklist

Check the property, advertiser, payment request, deposit, and tenancy details.

View checklist → ✎

Question generator

Create a clear message asking for the details you need before paying.

Create message →

All guides

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Scams

Rental scam red flags

Common warning signs to check before you send money or personal documents.

Read guide →
5 min read Best first guide
Scams

Check a rental listing

Use the checker to get a simple risk report for a listing or message.

Use checker →
Tool Free
Scams

What to do if you think you’ve been scammed

Steps to take if you have sent money or shared details with a suspicious advertiser.

Read guide →
Action guide Evidence checklist
Payments

Before you pay rental checklist

Key checks before paying a deposit, holding fee, rent, or reservation payment.

Open checklist →
Interactive Printable
Payments

What to do before paying a holding deposit

Checks to make before sending money to reserve a rental property.

Read guide →
Payment safety Calculator
Tenancy basics

What is deposit protection?

A simple guide to asking how your tenancy deposit will be protected.

Read guide →
Deposit guide Tenant basics
Landlords & agents

Questions to ask a landlord or agent

Generate a copy-and-paste message before you view, pay, or sign.

Generate questions →
Interactive Template
Landlords & agents

How to check if a landlord is real

What to ask for, what to search, and what details should match before paying.

Read guide →
Verification Copy message
Viewings

Viewing a rental property checklist

What to look for during an in-person or live video viewing.

Open checklist →
Interactive Printable
Tenancy basics

Renting a room safely

Extra questions to ask when renting a room in a shared house or flat.

Read guide →
Room rentals House shares
Platforms

Is it safe to rent from Facebook Marketplace?

Extra checks to make when a listing is posted on Facebook or social media.

Read guide →
Platform guide Facebook
Platforms

Gumtree rental scam checker

What to check before replying to or paying for a Gumtree rental advert.

Read guide →
Platform guide Gumtree
Platforms

SpareRoom scam checker

What to check before paying for a room, flatshare, or shared property on SpareRoom.

Read guide →
Platform guide SpareRoom
Platforms

OpenRent safety checker

What to check before paying, using Rent Now, or moving forward with an OpenRent listing.

Read guide →
Platform guide OpenRent
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