Marketing your property
Introduction
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has set out guidance for letting professionals that explains what they consider to be expected of landlords and letting agents when marketing the property. In particular they make clear the need to provide prospective tenants and guarantors with clear information that allows them to make an informed decision about letting your property.
This guide lays out these requirements and tells you what you must do to avoid breaching the regulations. If you break the regulations you could be guilty of a criminal offence.
What does the CMA expect lettings professionals to do?
Whenever you or your agent are marketing a property, the CMA expects you provide clear, accurate information to tenants. This should include a true breakdown of any costs so that the tenant can make a fair assessment of your property compared to any others they may be looking at.
Alongside this expectation around accurate and fair information, you are expected to provide the tenants with sufficient time to make a decision and that they understand whether they are dealing with the landlord or the agent.
Renters' Rights Act
The Renters' Rights Bill, the most significant set of changes to the PRS in over 30 years, completed its passage through parliament on 27th October 2025 and is now the Renters' Rights Act.
The legislation doesn't apply to your tenancies yet though. The legislation will not come into force until 1 May 2026. From that date, the Act will:
- Abolish Section 21;
- Change the notice periods and grounds available for Section 8 notices;
- Change the type of tenancy you can offer;
- Ban rent in advance before the tenancy is signed;
- Only allow rent increases via a Section 13 notice;
- Change advertising practices; and
- Significantly strengthen local authority enforcement powers.
The rest of the of the Renters' Rights Act, including the private rented database and the Decent Homes Standard, will follow at a later date.
The advice and resources on this page is currently accurate but will be outdated on 1 May 2026.
The NRLA is currently preparing a suite of replacement guides and tenancy documents to help you manage the transition smoothly.
For further information on the Renters' Rights Act and its details, please see our dedicated Renters' Rights hub.
Log in to learn what landlords must provide before a tenancy starts, including:
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The impact of the Tenant Fees Act on what you can charge and disclose.
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Key pre-tenancy checks and resources to protect your property and stay compliant.
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What guarantors need to know before signing.
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Your legal duties around deposit protection and prescribed information.
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The essential terms to include in your tenancy agreement.
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