To think rental history and references should be taken into account.

[Bunnygotwhacked]

I am trying to get a home for my family we are on the council list very low down in the single digits in fact but we are being kicked off in september as a change in rules means we are no longer local.
We are looking into shared ownership though i think that is a pipe dream and we are looking into private rent.
It seems in the last 12 years since we last needed to rent a place things have changed drastically. No longer can you turn up with your 2 months rent and find somewhere. If you can find somewhere that will take children pets and yes dss then you have the problem of a guarantor yup thats right someone who will pay your rent if you default. Not only must they be willing to take on the responsibility but they must earn at least three times the rent and have an outstanding credit rating. Not everyone knows someone like this we certainly don't. We have not in 12 years missed a single rent payment but that means nothing.
You don't even want to know about the agency fee's

My son has rented in his own right for four years now with no problems, and they still wanted me to act as gaurantor. He earns more than me

Insurance companies require this now (assuming the landlord is reputable and acting lawfully about the whole renting thing)
DSS rarely covered for damages / lack of rent by insurance providers and often securities are required too.

An almost impossible alternative is 6 months rent up front plus security deposit
Seems LL will take this into account but most don't speak to prospective tenants , no harm in asking though

we are having enough trouble getting all the agency fees + vat and the 2 months rent upfront 6 months? i wish

children are not an issue to most landlords. Pets (smelly, noisy, destructive in many cases) are.

DSS sadly also is - as mentioned many landlords can't get insurance for people on benefits.

reason for guarantor is that the law is heavily biased towards tenants. They can move in, not pay a penny in rent ever and it will still take months to get them out.

none of this really helps you, sorry. Losing any pet that doesn't live in a cage or a bowl might help a little.

The cat has come down from York with us we really can't get rid of him now least of all because he is a black male cat noone wants black males cats so he would end up in a rescue and i couldn't do that to him those places are so sad. It's annoying as he has never scratched anything other than an outdoor doormat and never sprayed anywhere at all but you can't say oh he is fine to agents as they quite rightly won't believe you and have heard it all before

The system that a lot of landlords are using in this area now, is when a property is up for rent you provide references (work, landlord and bank), a guarantor and you then bid for the months, you pay at least the year in advance, plus a large deposit, but who ever bids the most months in advance gets it.

after the first six months, you then either pay a further six months or it goes out bids again,

A lot of people are paying well over two years in advance, much more in some cases.

If the rent is raised during the tenancy, you have to pay that in advance also.

There a far fewer properties for rent than are needed here, so competition is stiff, and it cuts out the risk for landlords.