Any letting agents here? CCJ/rental query

[Watchkeys]

Hello. My partner and I are looking to rent together. Partner has good credit history and will be paying about 2/3 of the rent. I have a satisfied CCJ on my file, which I'm worried will cause problems, along with my lower earnings, as I believe rental contracts are usually joint and several liability. Is it the case that I'd have to be able to cover all the rent myself to be accepted, and so my low earnings and CCJ will scupper us?

It seems quite a ridiculous position as I've got lots of savings, so could buy some of the houses we're looking at outright. Is there a way around the 'CCJ' issue? I feel like I should be able to be my own guarantor or something! Thanks

If it’s satisfied then you should be fine. Make sure you tell the letting agency up front. If you can offer a higher deposit then that could alleviate any possible concerns.

Pay six months upfront?

I thought that would work too, but it seems not to be about the money. One estate agent told me that if you don't have a good credit history, landlords won't take you on because you're 'not reliable', and the worry is that you'll stop paying rent, and refuse to leave. It's ridiculous. The CCJ is because I neglected to change my address with a company, who chose to put my debt with them through the court, and then phone me to tell me. Why didn't they phone to ask my new address? It's really frustrating. I've worked full time all my adult life, been in my current job for 8 years, I've never missed a rent or bill payment, and I've got money in the bank. And yet I'm deemed untrustworthy because of one administrative oversight.

The market's on fire, though. People are offering over the asking price on rentals, which I've never even heard of before. If I was a landlord and could choose from tenents with CCJs and tenants without, I'd probably go for the ones without, too.

Off the point of the thread, but why are you looking at renting if your savings could buy a house outright?!

Because I don't want to spend my savings on a house, and we've not been together a year yet, so it's be too soon to buy together, anyway.

Buy your own house outright. You don’t have to buy with a new partner if you’ve got your own money.

As I said upthread, that's not what I want to do.

@Watchkeys fair enough. I would be surprised at anyone with a CCJ having over £100k in cash savings but even so, we don’t allow anyone with CCJs to rent any of our properties. Can your partner rent on his own?

@Louise0701

She could, but that's not what we want to do. We'd like to rent for a year and to both be on the contract.