How can you avoid a bankrupt landlord?

The media is all over the rise in repossessions of borrow to letters and the impact on tenants at the moment.  On the forums, we have a story of on tenant who may be evicted, but is still expected to sit out the whole tenancy by the agent or face penalties.  He naturally wants to protect his family from a last minute eviction, so found other accommodation.  The letting agent claims he is liable for the whole tenancy.

Although credit checks for landlords are one of our manifesto pledges, we have recently be considering a clause in the AST which helps you get out if the landlord defaults.  There should be a requirement in the AST that the landlord pays the mortgage in full every month.  This way, if they get into arrears you can claim breach of contract and terminate the tenancy.  This affords you some protection from a landlord who takes your rent to pay a mortgage on another property.

Another clause I would like to see is that the mortgage is an appropriate product (i.e. not a owner occupier mortgage). No-one should have to rent from a landlord who is lying to his lender.