Private renting with cash in hand income

[Jigglywigglypuff]

I'm in a bit of a tricky situation right now. I have been on unpaid sick leave from paid employment since early 2025. I am now being evicted due to my landlord selling up.

I do not want to return to my previous job for various logistics reasons, and have just started a new job that is working for a cleaning company on a self-employed basis. All work is cash in hand, paid on the day. I do not receive payslips, and as it is very new have no reported to HMRC for self-assessment tax yet, and when I do so in April, it will only reflect a very small amount as I have only just started working there.

So, i'm wondering when it is time to rent somewhere else (September at the latest), how will I go about proving to my new prospective landlord that I am receiving an income? I feel like showing the bank deposits with a bunch of sketchy cash deposits is not going to be highly favoured. I have 2 young children and am a recently single parent, and thus it is imperative that I am able to secure housing.

I have consulted with my local social housing group, and they have advised me that I would be moved to emergency housing with my children once the eviction is acted upon. I simply cannot put my children through this, and with one of them having severe SEN it is just not an option to move them to the other side of the city and then back again, in most likely unsuitable housing (from what I've heard and read online). My son will be starting school at this time as well and to have all of this going on as well is just out of the question.

Can anybody advise on how I can evidence this cash in hand income in a formal way? I asked one client for a receipt for the payment, and he hand scribbled a note on a bit of paper ripped out of a notebook which isn't much good to me.

Thanks in advance for any advice

You should not be paid like this. It’s a job and should have the protection that goes with it. Basically you don’t have a regular income and it’s just cash in hand. Can you really not get a job?! A standard job!

This felt pretty judgemental. I have been trying hard to find a job that works around school hours, and with my daughter only doing 3 hours a day at nursery everything elae that I have found doesn't work. I need a job now to earn money now. I have no family or friends to do pick up or drop off. I am completely alone trying to move forward in this situation.

Sorry OP, but if I were a landlord, I wouldn’t rent to you. You need to get a PAYE job or get your cleaning wages to start going into your bank asap else you will be at the mercy of the benefit system.

If you are self-employed you won’t get payslips. Either create a spreadsheet which records all your income, which you’ll need anyway to help do your self-assessment, or get an accountant who can certify your income. The accountant will need your spreadsheet and bank statements and will probably charge around £400-600 depending on where you are. If you only get money from one source it might be considered disguised employment but again an accountant can advise

There are a few questions - first, why are you staying long term sick from a job you have no intention of returning to? Just resign.

That must make it a bit easier to find employment that better suits you.

For the job you have, if youre cash in hand and havent done an HMRC return, you won't be able to prove income (as you say) so its extremely likely you'll be able to rent privately.

If you ARE working, how are you getting fit notes for your old job?

If you can up your hours, you will get nursery costs at least partially refunded, so that will allow you to work more.

If youre not officially working, you must be getting UC so how much shortfall do you need to make up with a job?

Do UC know about this money or are you not getting any UC?

Do you get UC?

A good option when dealing with "cash in hand" jobs is to carry your own book around and get your clients/customers to sign alongside their name, address, date and amount whenever they pay you. Or get one of those carbonated receipt books and fill in a page per payment with those details, get the customer to sign it and give them a copy, you keep the other.

It's not foolproof but it's better than nothing to help evidence, firstly, the work you're doing and who for, and secondly, that you're not trying to avoid/evade tax or commit benefit fraud.

An even better option is to continue looking for a PAYE job with payslips etc which would be far easier to get a rented property.

You’ll likely need a guarantor I would have thought.

Sorry, should have specified that I have resigned from my old job due to starting my new one - i am mentioning not wanting to go back due to logistics issues, being that it takes me 45 minutes to travel there, and 45 minutes back. With the hours my youngest is doing settling into nursery, it would pointless to go back to that job as i would not be able to work enough hours in that time to make a decent wage. I also have to take the bus there which is highly unreliable, so to get there on time normally resorted to a taxi to a (far away) tram stop and then the tram. This cost me around £105 a month in travel. I was being paid just under £500 for this job, so it just felt stupid to go back to a job that i hated for such little return.

The new job I am working would allow me to earn £840 a month once youngest is settled, with no travel fees as all work is within walking distance.

I do receive UC, who of course know about my new self-employment earnings. I desperately want to stop claiming UC as I hate being made to feel like a scrounger, and also feel anxious knowing they can reduce / sanction it for whatever reason. Attending monthly meetings is also not ideal. So yes, would ideally prefer to just work for my money instead, which I always did previously. My low income from previous job never used to be an issue due to having ex-H's income, too.

I was able to keep getting fit notes because early last year my ex-H beat and r*d me, which I have needed extensive treatment for and have been suffering with severe anxiety and depression because of ever since.

I am sick of being in this rut though, and want to just start fresh and be strong for my children. I want them to look up to me. But how can they when I am now a cleaner who can't even secure housing for them. Complete failure of a mother at this point.

Really great advice, thank you so much for this. I am going to try and find a different company that doesnt pay cash in hand. I thought it was sketchy off the bat to be entirely honest, but was so desperate for money that I felt I had to.

Thank you for your advice!

Yes :( i know. I don't know anyone well enough that would be eligible to be a guarantor. There are now company guarantors; a company that you pay a one-off sum too and they agree to be guarantor for you. However, I have rang up every estate agency I know and all of them have said this is not something they accept. Guess I better buy a tent, lol.

@Jigglywigglypuff Do you get maintenance for your children from your ex-husband?

No, he is MIA and wants NC with them at all. I dont even know how I would go about getting this from him. Honestly, I would be scared to ever see him again, especially in a court room where im trying to elicit money from him. He would get me for doing it, I know it. I just don't know i would feel safe doing this. Does it involve going to court?

Oh I’m sorry - and I am on your other thread as well - are you in England?

I think cleaning is a really good option in your circumstances as it tends to be flexible (I'm thinking about doing it myself). Do you think the company you are working through are legit? Are you actually self-employed or are they dodging their responsibilities as an employer? Cash in hand is unusual if it's from a company - if it's from the people you are cleaning for it's more usual. But evidencing self-employment income is hard.

The council should be trying to help you find somewhere to live. They are expected to try to prevent homelessness rather than just put you in temporary accommodation.

No, CMS do it, you just apply online. You don't need to have contact with him but he owes your kids money.

Are you not claiming benefits ?

Sorry i see you get uc

But if you're self employed you can choose who's house to work in, the hours you do, tha amount you charge and you can work as an independent cleaner as well as multiple other cleaning firms.

If this is not the case then they are offering false self employment and fiddling their taxes and avoiding NICs. It will be detrimental to you in the extreme and very difficult to get a rental through either an agency or a landlord.