Paying 6 months rent in advance

[threebedroomswanted]

I've only been self employed for a few months, but I have good credit history. I have a lot of savings, I don't think any estate agents/landlords would accept me, the ones I've spoken to have said I need to be self employed for at least 6 months.

Since I have a lot of savings, I'm thinking of offering 6 months rent in advance. I really need to get out, living with my ex is becoming unbearable.

Anyone done this?

We’ve always been asked to demonstrate a salary of three times the annual rent in order to be able to afford the rent.

Eg rent is £1000 pcm so salary needed to be minimum of £36k

I would approach landlords/agents in the regular way and offer the rent in advance if any issues arise. I paid 3 months in advance here due to no references from previous landlord (he disappeared leaving property to be repossessed hence me needing a new property) and still pay monthly so I’m always three months ahead.

We have just moved back to the UK and looked into this. It didn't work out for us because as a poster above has said you can only have a tenancy the same length as your up front rental payment (so 6 months in our case) and we found a lot of landlords- in London at least - were looking for a 12 month initial contract, especially because 6 months from now takes us into Brexit and all the uncertainty around that. We gave up in the end and changed our plans as it was clear we would struggle to get a decent property. Hope you have better luck!

My son did it, after the first six months it reverted a a normal monthly payment. Cambs.

I've done this, me and partner were not working at the time as we were moving cities, but had enough money in the bank for 6 months in advance. They will look at your circumstances again towards the end of that time and you can then move to a rolling tenancy or see about a fixed term tenancy of 6 months to a year if they won't do a rolling one. Ask about this, what the agent and landlord would expect for you to all agree the deal.

Don't be scared of this, you're a businesswoman who is clearly very capable, keep pushing at doors and negotiate for what you want. Set out what you expect to happen after the initial tenancy. Remember, you're the one paying them, you actually hold a lot of power here and hopefully find a really good set up for you. If you don't like it at the end of 6 months, you can always move again, we did. References, again just ask if a couple of character ones will be acceptable, last job, professional contacts, stuff like that. We were asked for friends to vouch for us, the only stipulation was they had to have a work email address to be contacted, not a gmail one etc, so the agent knew it wasn't just mates from down the pub sending made up references. It varies, depends on the agents and l/lords. Good luck!

We have tenants in our flat who have moved to the UK from Ghana, the husband is in a professional role but with ties locally and no UK credit history they offered to pay 6 months up front- we were happy to take them on that basis as it mitigates a lot of risk for us.

As it turns out they are wonderful tenants and they keep the flat beautifully (as do we in return).

Do it!