to ask for help about what supporting information to provide for rental application

[Rentaladviceplease]

Hi All, I’m applying to rent a property for the first time ever, as I am separating from my long term partner and moving out of our shared property.

I’ve found a rental property that I really like, so I want to make sure my application is as good as possible so I don’t miss out on it.

I’d appreciate it if anyone could give me some advice about what to include. I think the relevant points are :-

Single woman in my 50s, no children or pets.
Work part time in IT for global business.
Separating from my partner so looking moving out of our shared home and looking for a long term rental property.
Financially stable and willing to pay x months rent up front (how many, I was thinking of 3 or 4 if that would make my application more attractive)

Anything woolly about loving the area and will keep the property in good order?

Help please!!

Thank you so much for all the helpful comments.

This is Mumsnet at its best 😊

Application has been emailed to the agent now so fingers crossed

No advice OP but I really hope you get it.

I'm just slightly shocked at the hoops people have to jump through. Reading this I honestly would have no chance of renting a property privately if I was in that situation. It's quite scarey.

Are you renting through an agency. If so they may use this affordability calculator to see if you can afford the rent:

rent affordability calculator

They'll also do a credit check too and that will carry out some type of affordability stress test too.

I rent property in a town in East Anglia and had 70 enquiries for it on Open Rent.

I don't like money upfront for reasons mentioned above just rent paid on time every month.

There are good LLs out there. We're not all evil.

Good luck Op I hope you get it.

Thanks.
I can just about afford the rent according to that calculator but that obviously doesn’t take savings into account

At my son's workplace (one of the biggest UK insurance firms), they have a couple of new graduates having to live in hostels because they can't find flats to rent - that's on a salary of £30k! A northern UK tourist/university city!

It is so unfair on young people these days. I could buy a terrace house for twice my graduate starting salary in the early 1990s

Just to update - my application was accepted 😀

Thanks again for all the advice, I’m sure it made a difference

I think it's more the case that men are likely to let minor repairs slide, whereas women are more likely to report them. Not that women wouldn't be capable of doing said repairs !

Brilliant news OP! Enjoy your new home 😄

Doesn't really matter now as you've been accepted but I don't understand why you'd be telling the letting agents/landlords that you've recently split from a partner - why couldn't you just say you were single?

I am so pleased for you. I hope that you will be very happy in your new home.

i thought they would need to know my circumstances as it is quite unusual in this area for a professional woman of my age to be moving from their own property into rented.
I agree that it is uncomfortable to disclose that type of information but the rental market is so competitive so I didn’t want anything about my situation to look strange.

Fair enough, enjoy your new house!