What do you need to be able to private rent?

[user0512]

What are you required to prove or provide to rent a flat? Do you need to provide your credit history/references?

Deposit, month up front. Credit good enough to pass a check or some landlords will accept guarantors. References in most cases. If you have pets it's a nightmare.

When I rented I needed payslips & 2 references. Nothing was mentioned about my credit history but I assume they checked that.

Right to rent documents - passport or the like. They’ll probably credit check you and ask for references from employer and previous landlord. A months’s rent plus probably same or a bit more for deposit.

Oh and a months rent as a deposit

Depends on the landlord. I worked at the same company as my previous landlord so she knew I was getting paid and in a secure job. She only asked for a month's rent as deposit, no credit check, no references etc.

My current landlord asked for references, copy of my credit report, 3 months payslips, months rent as deposit and also a months rent in advance.

So what happens to the people who don't have amazing credit scores as they can't get a mortgage so does that mean that they can't rent either?

Guarantor, higher deposit, affordability check

I've got bad credit and have been looking to rent. Houses in my area are around £1000pcm and I need a guarantor who earns £34000 a year.

There are website rent affordability calculators that can help

What happens if you don't have one that earns that much? Where do those people live?

I need evidence of sufficient earnings, a deposit, and to have met the prospective tenants and to have decided that I am comfortable renting to them.

If they don’t have these things then they don’t get to rent from me.

Somewhere cheaper. Private landlords are running a business, just like Tesco is. In exactly the same way, if you can’t afford what they are selling then you can’t buy it.

Options for not meeting credit referencing/affordability include Become a lodger, sublet, find a sympathetic private landlord, pay 6months rent upfront, become a building guardian.

Renting through an agency will be fairly uniform with the rules. But renting from a landlord directly can have more flexibility.

Other options are riskier but can work out.

I'm in this situation- bad credit, dogs, student. It's been a nightmare. But luckily I have guarantors and as we are rural the local estates are far more flexible regarding the dogs and credit thing, and hopefully I've just found somewhere after a year of looking. I've been living with family.

Some online agencies now offer a bank check instead of a credit check. I rent through "Openrent" and they got temporary viewing access to my bank account (all done through an app) and the app worked out affordability, confirmed my employer / salary and risk level (whether I was a high, medium or low risk renter) through that. No need for a credit check or an employee reference.

I used to private rent and had a poor credit rating, I used LL's that rented and managed themselves as I knew I wouldn't pass credit checks for agencies and I was upfront about it and offered references from previous LL's to show that I pay my rent in full and on time as well as payslips/bank statements, bond and first month's rent up front.
I found them on local advertising sites, papers and Facebook pages, some turned me down but some were ok with it and I then went on to get a reference from them for being a good tenant.

We are in process now and the sheets from the estate agents all say we will need:

• 3 months payslips or income statements


• Employer reference/confirmation letter


• Prior Landlord reference


• Right to Rent check


• Credit check- no CCJs


• Holding deposit- 1 weeks rent (non refundable if fail referencing or checks other wise put towards the damage deposit)


• Damage deposit- 5 weeks rent


• 1st months rent

We had a 0 deposit one.
2 wage slips i think it was. And each year they do some check for £13 each.
No references.
Rent £1000pcm cheapest around here.

Oh yes and did a. Holding deposit of 1 week rent.

Some landlords demand a guarantor whatever your income. Exh earns a good salary, enough to pay me spousal maintenance, yet I had to be his guarantor otherwise he couldn't rent, I don't earn much but I have significant savings which sufficed (they wouldn't accept his savings)

I've never rented before (living with parents) so I can't provide a reference from a previous landlord.

What if you're doing joint renting?

For example, you're renting with a partner. Can both of your income count? If I was to do it alone my salary would just about cover the rent. But doing it together, we'd be able to pay the rent and have money left over for bills, food and fuel etc.

I'm so anxious!

Yes, you can both be tenants and both your incomes count towards the affordability calculation. Estate agents do it slightly differently:
Some do your annual gross income must be at least 2.5x the annual rent
Some do your annual gross income must be at least 30x the monthly rent

Avoid the 0 deposit schemes if you can. What they typically do is charge you 1 weeks rent up front, some sort of application fee and then an extra yearly fee in lieu of you providing a damage deposit. The schemes are not all the same as some have no up front amount but instead have a high monthly fee. None of the money you pay under a 0 deposit scheme is refundable and none of it goes towards any damage to the property- you still have to pay for all/any damage on top of these costs. So essentially, no matter how they dress it up, you are paying a higher rent in lieu of paying a fully refundable damage deposit (capped at 5 weeks rent).

We had to provide passports too for an id check / but that is probably h not looking / sounding English plus the foreign last name.

Remember if you rent a whole property then you have to pay all the bills- utilities, council tax etc make sure you can afford it. Oh and if a place is a shit hole snd they say it’s being decorated don’t believe them. It will still be a shit hole when you move in.