The Shelter website has great advice on how to rent a private property. Tenants usually search for privately rented property online via websites such as Rightmove, Zoopla and Openrent. Tenants looking to rent a room in a shared house typically search on Spareroom. Visiting lettings agents in person and making enquiries on local social media pages can also be successful. 

From 1 May 2026 the rules on advertising and selecting tenants change:

• Landlords cannot discriminate against potential tenants due to receipt of housing benefits, having children or other protected characteristics.
• They cannot ask for more than 1 month's rent in advance.
• The rental cost must be displayed on any advertising.
• They cannot choose another tenant because they offer to pay more rent than was requested. This is known as 'rental bidding'.

Application fees

There are existing controls on what fees an agent/landlord can and cannot ask for when you apply for a property. Landlords and agents are prohibited from charging the following fees: application fee, inventory fee, guarantor fee, credit check fee, referencing fee and fees for services such as gardening and cleaning. These fees have been made illegal in any form by the Tenant Fees Act 2019. The deposit a landlord or agent can ask for is capped at 1 month's rent. If a landlord initially takes a holding deposit, this is capped at 1 week's rent. If you are being asked to pay a banned fee, you can report this to Warwickshire Trading Standards via the Citizens Advice Bureau.

It is not unlawful for landlords and agents to choose a tenant based on referencing and credit checks. If you have evidence of rental discrimination, such as that you were outbid on rent, asked for more than one month's rent in advance or a property is being advertised without the rental cost, please email us at privatesectorhousing@warwickdc.gov.uk.