Renting while self employed

[Stargazer2404]

Hi

We have never rented before so very new to this.

Im currently on maternity leave. My husband works as a courier for Amazon. He is classed as self employed. He's been doing it for 8 months only and I understand landlords want atleast 12 months worth of accounts etc.
Do we really stand a chance..?

Even if he hasnt been doing it for a year, will they still consider his income?

Also one agent said we need to be earning 45k between us to rent the property, which we would be but we arent as im on MAT leave. We also have 2 small children

Sorry if these questions sound silly

I think it depends on the landlord/agency. We rent privately (no agent) and our landlord asked us for 3 months’ bank statements each, and it was only really to see that we had enough cash coming in each month and weren’t drowning in overdrafts.
Some places will ask for more comprehensive checks than others. And some will ask for guarantor, or a few months rent in advance, if they’re unsure about your finances. It’s worth looking around as there doesn’t seem to be a set criteria for everyone in my experience.

The affordability ratio is generally 30 X the monthly rent, so in order to rent a property that is available at £1,000 pcm you would need to demonstrate a household income of £30,000 pa. Most referencing agencies will ask to see a copy of your latest submitted tax return to verify income, some don't and work on income put into a business account for a minimum of 6 months. This option is a little dicey for landlords in my opinion as you can not see profit, loss, expenditure etc. It would be unlikely in your current position that you would sail through the referencing process.
A landlord needs acceptable references to get rent guarantee insurance so without this they can be at risk, that said this product is pretty much off the market due to the current situation.
The best thing to do is be up front and honest with the agent and ask if the landlord will consider you in your situation, some will, some won't. Can you provide a guarantor? Do you know what's on your credit report? Does the agent use a referencing company or carry out the referencing themselves? Have you looked at private landlords?

Thank you for your replies. Ive explained the situation an agent yesterday, theyre happy to see 3 months bank statements and said that they'll be able to work out the net profit from looking at the statements as well as husbands proof of income (invoices)

We also spoke with a private landlord too and he does his referencing thru a company, his requirements are that we earn 45k between us..which i am not as im on maternity, so we have arranged a viewing for a cheaper flat. Hopefully it all goes well. Thanks once again