A standing order is an instruction to a bank to an account holder to make regular fixed payments to a particular person or company and is often used to pay rent, usually on a monthly basis.  The standing order payments can be set up to finish by a particular date or will continue until cancelled by the tenant. It is worth noting that only the person whose bank account the funds are coming from can cancel the standing order. A standing order is not the same as a Direct Debit which is a payment method more often used when payments change from month to month.  Direct Debits are not often used to pay rent. More information can be found in our section covering tenancy agreements and paying rent.