Letting agents are being encouraged to reassess how tenancy risk is managed as regulatory reform, shifting landlord behaviour and affordability pressures continue to reshape the UK rental market.
Deposit alternative provider flatfair will host a live webinar, Beyond the Cash Deposit: How to Future Proof Tenancy Risk, on Tuesday 11 February at 11:00am, examining why traditional cash deposits are becoming increasingly misaligned with the realities of modern renting.
Hosted by Emma Parsons, Sales and Partnerships Director at flatfair, the session will feature Bex Hetherington, Head of Operations at build-to-rent (BTR) operator Native Communities, offering insight from a sector designed around longer-term occupation and customer experience.
The discussion comes as smaller landlords continue to exit the private rented sector in response to rising costs and increased regulation under the Renters’ Rights Act. While this has reduced overall rental supply, it has also helped sustain higher rents and, in many cases, longer tenancy durations.
CASH DEPOSITS ILL-SUITED
Against this backdrop, flatfair argues that cash deposits – developed for a more transient, lightly regulated market – are increasingly ill-suited to today’s conditions. Agents are under pressure to balance affordability at move-in with effective landlord protection, particularly as renters continue to face significant upfront costs despite easing inflation and improving wage growth.
The webinar will explore how tenancy risk can be managed more effectively across the full lifecycle of a tenancy, rather than relying on a single lump-sum deposit held at the outset.
Topics will include the operational impact of disputes and delayed end-of-tenancy resolution, and how deposit alternatives and tenant guarantor solutions can be used together to strengthen outcomes for both landlords and tenants.
“Build-to-rent has introduced a different approach to risk management.”
Although still a relatively young sector in the UK, build-to-rent has introduced a different approach to risk management, with operators designing models around long-term occupation, operational resilience and reduced friction for renters.
flatfair believes there are practical lessons from BTR that traditional letting agents can increasingly apply as the wider market becomes more stable but more constrained.
FUNDAMENTAL SHIFT
Emma Parsons reckons that the rental market has changed fundamentally, making it harder to reduce risk to a single cash deposit.
She says: “The session is designed to help agents rethink protection in a way that reflects how people actually rent today.
Bex Hetherington adds that BTR has always taken a more holistic view of tenancy risk.
She says: “We balance protection with customer experience across the whole tenancy. As the wider sector evolves, those principles are becoming increasingly relevant for agents operating in the private rented sector.”
The webinar forms part of flatfair’s wider efforts to support letting agents through ongoing regulatory and market change.
The firm offers a no-deposit solution aimed at reducing upfront costs for renters while providing protection for landlords, alongside end-of-tenancy protection and a tenant guarantor product designed to improve affordability and reduce risk.
The webinar is free to attend and open to letting agents across the UK.
