New online tool targets London’s fair rent prices

Letting agents in London are being offered a new tool to benchmark rent prices ahead of tighter controls under the Renters’ Rights Act, which came into force on 1 May.

Launched by LonRes, its ‘Rental Checker’ is designed to help agents assess what qualifies as an open market rent under Section 13.

From May, landlords will be limited to one rent increase a year and must keep rises in line with local market levels.

That shift places more weight on supporting evidence and tenants who consider an increase too high can refer it to a first-tier tribunal.

That could open the door to delays and closer examination of how rents are set.

Check London rents

The firm’s director of sales, Chris Welch, said: “Rental Checker helps letting agents advise their clients in setting rent increases so that they comply to the RRA rulings.

“Importantly the rental comparables draw upon achieved as opposed to asking rents.

“This allows for a degree of accuracy not matched by some of the wider consumer property portals.”

He added: “And because LonRes is independent – it neither lets nor sells property – the Rental Checker report is too.

“The report is designed for letting agents to forward on to landlords and in turn their tenants as a means of verifying their decision-making process.”

Prime rents targeted first

Determining an open market rent is not always straightforward, particularly in prime areas where values can diverge sharply within short distances.

The tool instead draws on achieved rents held within the LonRes system, rather than advertised figures, which often differ.

At launch, the service will initially target prime London lettings, with expansion planned across the M25.

Users enter a postcode, property size, bedroom and bathroom count, along with the rent being asked.

The system then returns comparable homes and an ‘accuracy barometer’ indicating how closely the figure aligns.

The resulting data, including comparable evidence, can be added to an agent’s own-branded report.

LonRes said the report outlines the methodology used and can be shared with landlords and tenants as supporting documentation.