To think these potential tenants don’t add up and suspect benefit fraud

[ChocoLeibnizBiscuits]

I know mumsnet hates landlords but I have unexpectedly found myself one.

I received tenant reference checks through and the applicant has had over £40k in this bank account for over 6 months however they have also been receiving almost £1000 a month in universal credit. I’m not at expert but I know how difficult it is to get UC and a quick google shows you won’t get any if you have over £16k in savings.

they also wanted to pay 6months up front.

I feel mean rejecting them
but something doesn’t add up does it?

You said ‘private renting’.

You May have come across this but it absolutely isn’t common practice at all. Estate agents would be shouting themselves in the foot if they expected this ridiculous condition for every property

No it is not!!! Shelter advise tenants without guarantor to offer 6 months up front! And many referencing companies require the entire initial tenancy term to paid upfront if there's no guarantor! Which is often 6 months. Please get your facts right

which county?

Wow the naïveté here!!!! What you fail to understand about private renting is that for EVERY application even couples on £60k+, a Guarantor earning 3 times the rent, is required! If the property is £1.5kpm that means you need a guarantor that is MINTED! This is a requirement up & down the country now and they don't usually accept guarantors who are retired, so parents are often ruled out. So everyone who doesn't have a minted & kind enough sibling/mate willing to guarantor, you have NO CHOICE but to bypass the guarantor requirement by paying the full initial tenancy term up front. Initial tenancies are almost always 6 months

Also not true of every agency or landlord, now or in the past.

You've clearly never rented a property in Harrogate then! Guarantors are required for all properties here. I've never once lived in student accommodation

Oh no you’re just talking crap now. Actual estate agents are posting on here to say six months uofront is seen as dodgy, I really don’t believe it’s expected or common practice

@LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet I have a guarantor for my current tenants. They failed referencing on a credit check due to ccjs but offered the guarantor. I accepted. Because it's a very common practise.

I didn’t say having guarantors wasn’t common practice, I’ve said it’s not required for every single property

I can't believe I have to introduce this concept to someone but...
Typing in caps and abundance of exclamation points is indicator of shouting or yelling.

@LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet You need to do your research then love because I can assure you it most certainly is! www.landlordzone.co.uk/news/number-of-landlords-asking-for-six-months-rent-in-advance-is-rising-claims-bbc/

landlordlawblog.co.uk/2021/11/04/is-it-better-when-taking-on-a-new-tenant-to-ask-for-six-months-rent-in-advance-or-a-guarantor/

I’m actually from your neck of the woods and your claim that the whole of North Yorkshire requires a rich guarantor no matter what is nonsense. I have rented in Starbucks briefly and didn’t need a guarantor.

‘Left-wing activist groups like Shelter’ aka long-established housing charity trying to do something about a housing crisis created by chronic underfunding of public housing and Rachmanite behaviour by grabby private landlords.

None of these articles prove your claim that six months upfront and/or a rich guarantor is ‘required’, ‘love’.

What a horrible bunch of people on this thread why do so many of you doubt those who have lived experience of having to pay rent up front and guarantors etc . Having to jump through hoops to get a roof over your head and having all your finances examined in great detail is so humiliating especially when so many renters have no stability at all with so many landlords selling up . It’s amazing how the U.K. is meant to be such a civilised country yet the amount of snobbery on this thread is unreal yet many Europeans rent long term with none of this judgement .

There are elusive private landlords out there who set there own terms yes of course, but approach any of the letting agents or estate agents in Harrogate and they'll require a Guarantor unless your household income is £75k+ (that figure was given to me by a lettings manager in an estate agent in Harrogate in late 2019....)

Well Harrogate is not a county. And as I say I rented there with no guarantor (unless rough Starbucks doesn’t count as Harrogate 🤣).

Your post has gone from “It is required, god you naive lot” to “Well it happens in my county!” To “I think that was the case in Harrogate in 2019” 🙄

I used to work for an estate agent in London. First of all, we never asked for minted guarantors on every property.

Secondly, the six months rent in advance is often seen as a dangled carrot… The prospective tenant is relying on greed to get them the rental. Yes, I'm presuming that occasionally decent tenants who have the means may suggest this – if they feel that it will help them get the rental of over other prospective tenants – but otherwise, why would you offer so much money in advance when the landlord is not requesting it? Especially in the current financial climate.

OPI think you should go with your gut. A friend of mine was selling her property and prospective buyer was being overly generous with what they were suggesting… she was suspicious. She took advice from a financial advisor and turned him down.

A few months later he was on the front page of the local paper for property fraud: he had swindled someone out of £20,000.

They also have very clear responsibiloties for tenants as well as landlords.
Going by the tenant heating thread, I don't think it would be that popular here for tenants...
There are also rules about returning property to previosu state or at least neutral colours, which 2 out of 4 tenants in flats before me failed to do so it delayed moves.

I had paid rent upfront as self employed. But the thing is the landlord knows and asks for it, not that you just randomly come and offer it. That is the bit people say is weird.

I like how when people have different opinion it's assumed they are super rich and never had to do anything like... Needing guarantor or pay advance🙄

Things have changed since I rented a while back- guarantors used to be if you had debts, couldn't show a steady income or had failed to get a reference from your last landlord.

Paying upfront was never done. Sounds very rough out there.

Also Harrogate is fucking expensive to rent I’d say you’d be lucky to find a house for 3 for less than £1,000pcm.

So I imagine they want people who earn enough to be able to live there. If it’s a £2,000 pcm property (not unusual) then you’ll need to be on a v high wage

I thought mn wanted landlords to sell up...