Renting with a bad credit rating - any advice?

[Janos]

Anyone have any experience of this? Is it possible to find somewhere in the private sector? Any advice appreciated.

hi me and my partner are renting throug an agency and neither of us have got a very good credit rating but we have found that being up front with the agency worked wonders we had no problems hope this helps

Unfortuntaely most private rentals also require some sort of guarantee in the form of a credit check and many private landlords use an agency anyway.

Our credit rating is appalling and we have had to deal with this on a number of ocacsions.

It helps to have good references.

If it is really bad you will either have to find a guarantor who earns enough to cover your rent as well as their own outgoings or you will need to pay up front (usually 3, 6 or 12 months depending on the tenancy.)

Savills are fine with this as are Lane Fox and probably most other agencies. Try primelocation.com as often the hard to shift (but still lovely) properties are often listed here and you may be in a better position to negotiate if this is the case. Obviously if somebody else makes an offer and has great credit score and references you are in a tricky position.

We found our house through an agency but dealt privately with the landlord for a quick and cheap rental - (him and us!)

Good Luck!