On 12/06/26, prolific rental scammer Freddie Priestly was sentenced to 35 months in prison for defrauding more than 30 people in London out of over £77,000.
Priestly targeted people in social media groups who said they were looking for somewhere to live, luring them in with an advertised rent that was far lower than average for the area. But once prospective tenants paid the deposit and upfront rent, he would contact prospective tenants with a variety of excuses as to why he could not go through with their agreements, which included saying that there had been deaths in the family, police said.
Renters in England spend over 36% of their income on rent. In London, that figure rises to 42%, while the ten local authority areas in the UK which are least affordable for renters are all in London.
According to Report Fraud, the cost of rental fraud in England, Wales and Northern Ireland more than doubled between 2021 and 2025 from £7.2m to £14.5m a year.
The campaign group Generation Rent is calling on the government to urgently introduce a limit on how much landlords can raise the rent, as high rents create a ‘fertile environment for scammers.’
Nye Jones, Head of Campaigns at Generation Rent, said:
“Homes are the foundations of our lives, but those foundations are torn away when scammers set out to profit from people’s misery. While the law has caught up with Freddie Priestly this time, justice for these appalling crimes is sadly all too rare.
“High rents create fertile ground for scammers who can exploit desperation. Mostly, it’s the people on lower incomes, who can least afford to lose money, who are often targeted. With another inflation spike on the way, the government can and must act by bringing in a limit on how much landlords can hike the rent, which would tackle the conditions that have allowed scammers to thrive at our expense.”
Generation Rent has also shared some advice for renters to help protect themselves from being scammed:
- Avoid finding homes through social media websites. Generation Rent analysed 300 renting adverts on one mainstream social media site and found nearly three quarters contained indicators of a scam.
- Watch out for rental prices that feel too good to be true. Scammers often lure people in with prices that are significantly lower than average.
- It is illegal for landlords to demand more than one month’s rent in advance. The Renters’ Rights Act limits rent in advance to one month, anyone asking for more is acting illegally. Additionally, it is also illegal for a landlord to ask for money before you’ve viewed a home.
- Cross reference the home with other property sites. If the photos are exactly the same as on property sites like Rightmove, that’s a sign it could be a scam. Additionally, check Airbnb too, as sometimes scammers offer viewings while briefly renting a home through that site.
- Check the register of agents. If a suspicious ad is purporting to be from a letting agent, find them on this Trading Standards search tool for all registered letting agents and call the number listed to verify the ad.
- If you think you’ve been scammed contact your bank immediately and report the crime via Action Fraud.
