The rent check idea was no doubt written without consulting an alert landlord. The premise on which it is founded is that tenants will use the data from bonds held by FT to ascertain the true rents paid by tenants rather than look at the advertised rents which it is implied may be misleading. The government also thinks landlords will use it to determine what rents they should charge.
But the premise is flawed. If a landlord has a long standing tenant say 10 years on a yearly lease that was renewed annually with rental adjustments, putting current rent, say for argument’s sake, double what it was 10 yrs ago, the bond data will reveal ONLY the rent charged in the tenant’s first year some 10 years ago because FT informs that the quantum of the bond cannot be changed until there is a change of tenant.
That will serve to only MISINFORM both landlords and tenants.