to worry about a credit check, coming from Ireland

[Ceci03]

Asking from anyone who would know. I'm hopefully moving to the UK soon, and I need to rent a house. The agencies all say they run a credit check. Can they do that in Ireland? I'm just so worried, as there is a 'stain' on my credit history that goes way back - an old dispute about a mobile phone bill. Will that stop me being able to rent a house in the uk. TIA

How old is the debt?

Have you checked your credit file?

this website might help

Most lenders in Ireland send information about borrowers and their repayments to a central agency, the Irish Credit Bureau (ICB).

the last time I checked it was still there, but I'll check again. It must be nearly 5 years by now. It was 300 euro.
but would a UK rental agency check ICB would you say?
and if they did, would they not rent to me?
anyone know. am getting scared I wont be able to get somewhere to live even if I land a job.

I'm pretty sure they will check your credit rating and also ask for character references. Are you in rented now and will the landlord/agent give you a good reference?

Each case will be taken on its individual merit. If your credit rating has otherwise been good and you have kept unto date with all your other financial committments then there is no reason why they will not consider you.

They want good tenants so one little 5-year old blip on your record isn't necessarily going to exclude you from renting. However, they might ask you to pay more for the deposit and ask for a guarantor to cover themselves.

Maybe look into flat-share or lodging. Do you have any friends or acquaintances here, who you can put feelers out for you?

The place i'm in now, that I'm leaving shortly, I wont get a reference from as I had a huge row the landlord and brought a case against him as he wouldnt give back my deposit, and now it's in receivership, so it's all anonymous bank and property company. before that I have a good reference from where I was for 5 years, and previous, for 3 years I have a reference. I have 2 kids and a dog so need a proper home for us. Shit I never dreamt I would have trouble getting somewhere. Agencies in the uk seem to charge a lot of 'registering'. You dont get those charges in ireland. I guess the landlord must pay them.

All upfront fees to tenants will be banned from 1 June 2019.
New tenants will no longer have to pay for reference and credit checks, contract renewals and other administration fees (not sure about the law in Scotland).

Go on the Shelter website where there is lots of info about private renting in the UK. You also need to check if the 'right to rent immigration check' is going to affect you. I seem to remember the law might change on that one.

England Shelter

Scotland Shelter

@newyear2018 the Irish credit bureau is gone in Ireland since about 18 months ago. It wasn’t a credit scoring system like in the uk. The Irish banks paid for it so it wasn’t a reliable source of info. It has been replaced with a central credit register.
Op you can apply to check your record with the CCR. Only approved financial institutions and hire purchase type agencies can access your credit info, and I don’t think this includes non domestic checks. I wouldn’t worry.

Just to add we don’t have credit ratings and credit scores in Ireland in the way the uk has so any ufo would be fairly useless outside Ireland.

You should be fine, you just need to declare it so the landlord can make a decision. This is going to sound a little blunt but not sure how to put it and don’t mean to, have you got employment? You’ll need to provide income source, the dog might limit your choices but lots of landlords do accept a pet.

That's good to know. The link I gave did say ICB was set up by the lenders but not that it has been disbanded.

OP I don't think you have too much to worry about either. Like I said landlords and agents want good tenants. They will ask for references and decide on those.

yes I'll have a 'good' job hopefully. thanks for the reassurance. think /hope I'll be there before 1 June so might have to pay those fees, dang it. yeah I've been working for years, and renting for years, so hopefully I'll be ok. I know, dog is a problem but fingers crossed someone will let us