Conversations around rental financial literacy need to start much earlier – Housing Hand

Talk Money Week (3-7 November 2025) is the Money and Pensions Service’s annual campaign to encourage everyone in the UK to talk about their finances. Data from UK rental services provider Housing Hand shows just how critical these conversations can be.

Housing Hand’s research – summarised in the new Understanding Renters in 2025 report – finds that those entering the rental sector for the first time feel overwhelmed (25%), uncertain (22%), anxious (21%), scared (9%) and out of their depth (4%).

Lack of relevant rental financial knowledge plays a big part in this, with 65% of renters unaware of deposit-less rental schemes, 46% unaware of how deposit protection schemes work and 37% not knowing how to set up utilities’ contracts. Worryingly for landlords as well as tenants, 58% had no idea what to do if they couldn’t pay their rent.

Earlier conversations around personal finances, particularly in relation to renting a home, could do much to assuage some of the anxiety around the experience, according to Housing Hand’s Managing Director Graham Hayward. He explains:
“The average person buys their first home at age 33 – two years older than a decade ago. Many spend years renting before they buy, so why don’t we equip renters with the financial knowledge they need to make that experience more positive? The earlier we start talking about housing-related financial literacy, the more confident people can be when they enter the rental market.”

The Understanding Renters in 2025 report shows that renters themselves are keen for conversations around money to start earlier. 82% of the 1,700 working professionals and students who took part in the survey said they would have liked more financial education at school. Instead, renters are turning to websites (38%), family (31%) and friends (15%) to get information on managing their housing-related finances. Just 2% reported getting information on this from school.

“At present, just 5% of new renters report feeling excited and 4% feel happy when first looking for a home to rent. Talk Money Week presents the ideal opportunity to address financial knowledge gaps that could drive up these figures significantly. As the Renters’ Rights Bill returns to the House of Lords, can we please make renters’ financial knowledge a priority, too?”

Jeremy Robinson, Group Founder and CEO, Housing Hand