To think paying a years deposit upfront

[Cookiejar717]

Might help me today with a house I'm going to view to rent. I've been unsuccessful in getting any viewings on 3 bedroom houses. I am able to offer 6 to 12 months rent upfront as I can't get a guarantor either. Do you think this might get me a chance? I work 24 hours a week and I'm a single mum.

It's a sub letting red flag too. I've seen all sorts!

DP and I have both done this in the past 12 months. Identical circumstances to your own, homeowners and separations. I've been paid out, his ex is being stubborn and only paid a partial settlement. We don't live together.
The agents used Canopy for referencing and credit checks. Paid the deposit and the rent upfront directly to the landlords.
No issues-no red flags, we both did an informal meet and greet with the landlords.
It's an unsettling feeling going from being a homeowner to living in someone else's house.

Dd is a letting in agent in london

the first year she lived there her flat mate and her had to pay the whole 24k annual rent in advance or she would not have got the flat

this year she has paid the first 6 months at 2.5k in advance to make sure she got the flat

I think that would be risky. There's a limit of 6 months advance rent in Scotland. I sympathize massively with you. Also a single parent and just been through the most stressful few months of my life trying to find somewhere to live. There were 150 applicants for one property I applied for! I ended up getting somewhere through someone I know after telling just about everyone I could think of I was looking.

6 months is regularly asked for overseas students who have no UK guarantors, and is widely accepted. I honestly don’t think this is a problem for a lot of LL.

A friend’s dd who paid a year in advance, then had the washing machine pack up and it was many weeks before it was fixed. The landlord lived in France, and the letting agent was hopeless. So having paid upfront the dd couldn’t even threaten to withhold the rent until it was fixed.

Just saying.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/nov/17/uk-renters-offer-tenant-cvs-and-years-rent-upfront-to-try-to-secure-a-home

It's becoming more and more common by the looks of it.

I really sympathise, OP. DH and I didn't get out of rented until our 40s, despite earning decent salaries in 'safe' jobs. When ds went to uni last year he was effectively gazumped on student flats/houses in London, with landlords openly telling him he'd have to up his 'offer' (ie pay more than the advertised rental) in order to get a room!

Housing is utterly broken especially in the SE. I really hope you find somewhere you can call home.

We paid a year upfront for my DD and SIL. They wouldn't have passed affordability tests.
However also we officially don't have a lot of actual income, though have a lot of assets. So on paper we might have failed income based guarantor tests.

You can’t do that anyway.

It will help, six months in advance is common if you cannot prove long term income. We did it when we started a business and didn’t have enough years of accounts. However the arrangement went on for the duration of the let at the time. So worth keeping in mind that could be expected.

I did this and then lost my UC because they won't pay a contribution to housing unless you are renting and paying per month.

It's uncanny how similar our situations! Another small warning - I had to go full-time at work as my benefits were basically discounted... when I was asked for just my wage it was considered far too low to even get through the door!

One qualifying comment though - I also have two cats which put off some landlords. Whilst they're not supposed to discriminate because of this, it certainly didn't help my case as I don't believe it is law yet!

You can. It may not be advisable, but that's a different thing.

If your lease includes the provision of white goods, which it probably does, then the landlord not taking steps to repair it or provide alternative provision is a breach of the lease. At that point, the tenant may withhold or reduce rent to try to force restitution of the breach (since neither are they getting obligations to them fulfilled under the lease). This is legally possible.

I would suggest looking on OpenRent as it's a private landlord website, you'll be able to explain your situation directly to the landlord rather than being passed through estate agents. Plus, it's on their advertisements whether DSS income is accepted.
I wouldn't offer to pay a year up front for your own sake, I don't know if you'd get a refund for any of it if you decided to live elsewhere at say the 6 month mark.

Is it true that if someone puts an application in before me today I can't put one in?

So referencing companies wouldn’t accept a lump sum as an alternative as a guarantor unless you had significant savings, 5x the annual rent for example. You might have more luck through something like OpenRent when it’s direct with a landlord as I don’t know any letting agencies that don’t reference!

@eandz13

Ooo OK not seen this. I will look thank you.

@SanFranBear

So there's not much chance of private renting with a young family part time? Uc have also offered to pay £425 towards my rent.

I've just phoned up another estate agent and they said I won't be able to apply for anything without a guarantor on my income. So sounds like even this house Today will be a no. I'm not earning enough.

Open rent just has a couple of shared rooms on where i live. I think I'll be staying with my ex for the foreseeable. Thank you all for your help. I'll go this morning but I've pretty much been told no chance unless full time.

Can I ask whereabouts in the country this house is OP? I'm a LL and when/if I give a house to an EA to let out they usually set up about 12 viewings over 2 days then they come back to me telling me who has said they want to rent it. They do basic affordability check before viewings. They will say Mr and Mrs A have 2 DC and a cat. Mr A works as a plumber, Mrs A is a part time care worker. No guarantor but have LL reference. Can pay 3 months up front. Want a year. Want DC in local school. Then go on to Mr B is single, works as a solicitor. No pets, has a reference from current LL no guarantor. Will pay 1 month up front. Wants 6 months.Etc etc Then I look carefully through the list and pick one of them. Then they do credit check on them. If they pass credit check and affordability check they get it. Being able to pay rent in advance would be similar to me as having a guarantor. I generally go for couples who work because I figure if one of them loses their job the other one can still pay the rent. I know it shouldn't matter to me but I do like 3 bedroom houses to go to people with DC.

Hiya yes lincolnshire in a market town

@caringcarer

Thank you that's insightful. I think I'll just gave to try offer the rent in advance. One estate agent told me "they don't do that" but I seem to have different reactions from different estate agents.

I don't have any houses in Lincolnshire. I think all you can do is keep trying. Do you know anyone who rents a house from a LL? If so maybe they could ask their LL if they have any houses becoming vacant soon. Several of my tenants have asked for houses for a brother, cousin or friends. I ask for their details and put them on a waiting list. I like tenants who have DC who are going to local schools as I think they will probably want to rent for a long time and make it their home. I love cats. Keep trying because there will be a house for you out there. You just need to find the right LL. Also if you want to rent long term tell the agent because tenants who want to rent long term are attractive tenants. It costs LL a lot of money to do credit checks and references on multi possible tenants every 6 months.

I had a tenant who had a CCJ. He paid 6 months in advance. It was held by the letting agent so I only got one month's rent each month. He was the best, most reliable tenant ever. Clean, tidy, quiet, looked after the place, didn't make unreasonable demands. He stayed for years until the CCJ expired. He only left because he was then able to get a mortgage.

So I don't automatically see it as a red flag, if everything else lines up.