PCM stands for Per Calendar Month. When a property is advertised at £1,300 PCM, that is the rent due for each calendar month of the tenancy, whether that month has 28, 30 or 31 days. You pay it twelve times a year, on the same date each month.
Since 1 May 2026, PCM is more than a market convention. Under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, rent periods on assured tenancies in England cannot exceed one calendar month. Monthly rent is now the legal ceiling rather than the industry habit, and the rules on what a landlord can ask for upfront have changed with it.
This guide covers what PCM means, how to convert a weekly figure into a monthly one, when the rent is due, and what the advertised figure really translates to if you are letting.
What does PCM stand for?
PCM means Per Calendar Month. It is the standard way rent is advertised in England, and it refers to a calendar month rather than a four-week period.
That distinction costs people money more often than any other point in this guide. A calendar month is not four weeks. There are twelve calendar months in a year but thirteen four-week periods, so rent quoted per calendar month and rent quoted per four weeks are not the same figure.
You will see three abbreviations in rental listings:
- PCM is per calendar month, the most common format for flats and houses.
- PW is per week, still used in some agency listings and in parts of central London.
- PPPW is per person per week, used almost exclusively in student and shared housing.
How to convert weekly rent to PCM
To convert a weekly rent into a monthly one, multiply by 52 and divide by 12.
PCM = (weekly rent × 52) ÷ 12
A property advertised at £300 per week works out at £15,600 a year, which is £1,300 PCM.
The common mistake is multiplying the weekly figure by four. That gives you a four-week cost, not a calendar month, and it understates the true monthly rent by roughly 8%. Over a year that is the equivalent of a full month’s rent.
| Weekly rent | Correct PCM figure | The ×4 shortcut | Annual shortfall if you use ×4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| £200 | £866.67 | £800 | £800 |
| £250 | £1,083.33 | £1,000 | £1,000 |
| £300 | £1,300.00 | £1,200 | £1,200 |
| £350 | £1,516.67 | £1,400 | £1,400 |
| £400 | £1,733.33 | £1,600 | £1,600 |
| £500 | £2,166.67 | £2,000 | £2,000 |
What the Renters’ Rights Act changed about monthly rent
The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 came into force on 1 May 2026 and changed the rules around rent periods and upfront payments. If you are renting or letting in England, these are the four points that matter.
Rent periods cannot exceed one calendar month
Every assured tenancy must now run on a rent period of one calendar month or shorter. Quarterly, termly and annual rent arrangements are no longer available for new tenancies, and clauses requiring them have no legal effect. Where an older agreement set a longer rent period, the Act converts it to a monthly figure by statutory formula.
In practical terms, PCM is now the default position in law, not just in advertising.
One month’s rent in advance is the maximum
A landlord or agent can require a maximum of one calendar month’s rent in advance, and only once the tenancy agreement has been signed. Asking for three, six or twelve months upfront is no longer permitted. A tenancy deposit, capped separately at five or six weeks’ rent, sits outside this and is unaffected.
A tenant can still choose to pay several months at once after the tenancy has begun, but it has to be genuinely voluntary and cannot be a condition of getting the property.
The advertised PCM figure is now the maximum lawful rent
Every advert or written offer must state a specific proposed rent as a precise figure for a period of no more than one calendar month. “Offers in excess of” and “price on application” are not permitted. Once that figure is published, neither the landlord nor the agent may invite, encourage or accept an offer above it, which ends rental bidding on initial lettings.
Rent can only be increased once a year
Increases must follow the amended Section 13 procedure using prescribed Form 4A, and can be made no more than once in any twelve-month period. Tenants can challenge a proposed increase at the First-tier Tribunal.
When is PCM rent actually due?
Rent is due on the first day of each rent period, and the tenancy agreement sets what that date is. For most tenancies it is the anniversary of the move-in date rather than the first of the calendar month. A tenancy that begins on the 14th usually has rent falling due on the 14th of each following month.
A landlord cannot require rent to be paid before the first day of the period it covers. If a tenant wants to end the tenancy, they give two months’ notice expiring at the end of a rent period, which is another reason the rent date matters more than it used to.
What PCM means if you are renting
Before a tenancy starts, referencing checks whether the PCM figure is affordable. Two benchmarks are used across the industry.
- The 30% guide. Rent is generally considered affordable at up to 30% of gross monthly income, though in London the practical figure is often higher.
- The income multiple. Most agents want annual gross income at 2.5 to 3 times the annual rent. On a £1,300 PCM property, £15,600 a year, that means an income of around £39,000 at the lower multiple.
If you fall short of the multiple, a guarantor is the usual route. Since May 2026 a landlord cannot ask you to close the gap by paying a large sum upfront instead, so the guarantor conversation now happens earlier than it once did.
What PCM means if you are letting
For a landlord, the advertised PCM figure is a gross number. It is what a tenant pays in a month when everything goes to plan, not what reaches your account across a year.
Take a property let at £1,300 PCM. On paper that is £15,600 a year. A realistic twelve-month picture usually looks closer to this.
| Line | Effect on the year |
|---|---|
| Advertised rent, £1,300 PCM | £15,600 |
| Managing agent fee at 12% | minus £1,872 |
| One month void between tenancies | minus £1,300 |
| Council tax and utilities during the void | minus £250 |
| Routine maintenance and repairs | minus £800 |
| Annual compliance: gas safety, EICR share, EPC | minus £300 |
| What you actually keep | £11,078, or £923 PCM |
That is a 29% gap between the number on the advert and the number in the bank, and it assumes nothing goes wrong. Add a tenant who stops paying and the arithmetic changes sharply. Legal fees, court costs and bailiff fees on a possession claim typically run to between £1,500 and £3,000, and with Section 21 abolished every possession claim now goes through the Section 8 route with a hearing and an evidential burden. Court possession timelines have been running at around 33 weeks. Those are months during which the property produces nothing at all.
These figures are illustrative rather than a quotation, and they vary by borough and property type. The pattern does not vary much.
How guaranteed rent makes PCM a fixed net figure
There is a version of letting where the PCM figure you agree is the PCM figure you receive, every month, for the length of the agreement.
Elliot Leigh works on a Corporate Lease Agreement. We take a lease on your property for two to five years and become your tenant, then place and manage the occupants ourselves. Because the contract between you and us is a commercial lease rather than an assured tenancy, it sits outside the framework the Renters’ Rights Act governs. The rent period rules, the advance payment restrictions, the Section 13 increase procedure and the Section 8 possession route apply to the occupancy we manage, not to your income.
What that means month to month:
- Paid on the same date every month, including any month the property stands empty.
- No commission and no management fees. The figure we agree is the figure you receive, not a gross number with deductions to follow.
- Arrears are our problem. If an occupant does not pay, you are still paid, and we carry the legal costs and the possession process.
- Minor repairs are covered by our in-house maintenance team at no charge to you, alongside council tax and utilities during any void.
- Compliance is handled for the duration of the lease, including gas safety, electrical testing and EPC obligations.
Elliot Leigh has been running guaranteed rent since 2003 and has paid more than £500 million to landlords in that time. We manage over 1,800 properties across London and Essex, hold more than 50 local authority partnerships, and are the largest guaranteed rent supplier to Tower Hamlets and the second largest to Hackney. Our management operation is certified to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.
PCM: frequently asked questions
What does PCM mean in rent?
PCM stands for Per Calendar Month. It is the rent due for each calendar month of the tenancy, paid twelve times a year.
Is PCM the same as four weeks’ rent?
No. A year contains twelve calendar months but thirteen four-week periods, so four weeks’ rent is roughly 8 per cent less than a calendar month. To convert weekly rent to PCM, multiply by 52 and divide by 12.
Can a landlord ask for six months’ rent in advance?
Not for tenancies entered into on or after 1 May 2026. Under the Renters Rights Act 2025 the maximum a landlord or agent can require is one calendar month of rent, and only after the tenancy agreement has been signed.
Can I be asked to pay more than the advertised PCM?
No. Since 1 May 2026 the rent stated in the advertisement is the maximum lawful rent for that letting. Landlords and agents cannot invite, encourage or accept an offer above the advertised figure.
What does PCM inclusive mean?
It means the monthly figure covers some or all bills, typically utilities and sometimes council tax or broadband. Check exactly which bills are included before comparing an inclusive figure against an exclusive one.
Is PCM the same for HMOs and shared housing?
Shared and student housing is more often advertised as PPPW, per person per week. To compare it against a whole-property PCM figure, multiply the weekly rate by the number of tenants, then by 52, then divide by 12.
To find out how much Guaranteed Rent we can offer you, download our brochure and secure your investment today.
