Returning to U.K. - how to prove income for rent?

[Ozgirl75]

We’re coming back to the U.K. and obviously our salary has been paid in Australian dollars as that’s where we live. We’re applying for rentals and we’ve seen one we like but the agent has said referencing might be difficult as they can’t look at overseas income.
So, if you’ve moved back to the U.K. and rented before, how have you proved your income going forward? When we moved to Australia we simply provided a copy of an employment contract and that was that.

There’s nothing dodgy 😂
It’s just like this;

scenario 1 - we earn a salary of £10k per month. We are taxed at that rate and then spend that money on whatever we like (including rent)

scenario 2 - the business rents the house for £2500 per month. We take a salary of £7,500 per month and are taxed as if we took £10k as the rent portion is considered a “benefit in kind” and taxed accordingly.

I think you’re thinking of expenses that you can claim against taxable income, such as the portion you can claim if you work from home, but that’s not the scenario here. It’s more akin to a company car benefit.

Ultimately they just want to know if you can afford the property. If you have enough savings to live off which makes you being able to afford it as a lump sum. Or if you have enough monthly income to pay monthly.

if they think you are a risk but have the capital, they might eg ask you to pay the first 6 months of rent upfront

Doesn’t matter whether it’s outside of London, it’s the same everywhere. No one wants to rent to someone who doesn’t meet the criteria…it’s really difficult to rent if you haven’t got the right info nowadays

It seems fine - we’re just going to get the business to rent it. Thanks for your help everyone!