Rental agreement - quick question....

[chipsnchops]

I am new to rental agreements and looking for a bit of advice please. If you're relocating and looking at getting a rental property but not yet in employment, is it normal to be asked to pay up front for the whole of the tenancy duration? And if so, how can I protect myself if I do this?

It is possible - sounds like you don't pass credit checks and landlord needs some guarantee that you'll pay at least for a while.

Read how to rent on gov.uk, there's a rental property shortage ( the plan to drive out private landlords is working) and so there is a higher percentage of crooked landlords preying on the clueless. Get clued up.

Thanks we haven't had credit checks but will pass no problem. We easily have the cash to pay for this just no employment at present as we are relocating. Will have a look at Gov website

My cousin relocated and she had to pay 12 months aswell, was due to no employment.
As they obv can’t guarantee to get the monthly payments. Just covering their backs really.

We paid six months upfront when we were between houses. We just needed to rent until the new one was ready.

IME it's very normal; you might be able to negotiate for six months rather than a full year. I don't think it materially affects how protected you are TBH. Withholding rent to make the LL mend the broken boiler is a thing of the past; all you get for that is evicted, and while that'll take bloody ages for the LL, it'll also be a huge black mark on your record, so not really worth it.