How Do Landlords and Lettings Agencies Do Tenant Referencing?

Tenant Discussion
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Originally published at: All About Referencing & Credit Checks | OpenRent Landlord Hub

The tenant referencing process in the UK rental market often appears as a major hurdle to cross before securing a rental property. Most people have little insight into what happens during their referencing, including how the final ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ decision is made. This guide will walk you through the typical process of tenant referencing…

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I noticed there is listed a £20 fee for Tenant referencing, how is this waived for the Scottish properties, as under Scottish law only the rent and a refundable deposit are allowed to be requested?

https://www.mygov.scot/landlord-credit-checks-references/

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Hey Allanrbd, With OpenRent, referencing can happen either via Rent Now, or through our Standalone Referencing service.

In Scotland, we aren’t currently able to offer Rent Now. If landlords order Standalone Referencing, then they are not permitted to pass those costs into the tenant. Hope that answers your question!

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Hi guys, we are in the process of trying to rent a place and our potential landlord is saying the refernecing will cost £30 despite every page on OpenRent saying it should cost £20. They assured us the £30 is correct but we can’t see this anywhere and it strikes me as extremely odd?

Any clarification would be massively appreciated.

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Hey - the most we allow landlords to charge a tenant is £20 to cover the cost of referencing.

It’s definitely not £30!

If you send the details of this OpenRent property (e.g. the ID number or a link to the advert) to our customer support team, then we’ll investigate!

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Dear team,
I’ll move to the UK on the 1st of January with a Turkish businessman visa with my wife and 8-year-old son. Therefore, I don’t have a credit history in the UK even though I have the highest credit score in Turkey which I can prove to you legally with the credit score company in Turkey. We will be a self-employed because it is a start-up visa. How can you assist us?
Regards
Serkan

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Do you accept guarantors that are British Citizens living abroad?

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Hi Jodie,

Guarantors must be residing in the UK. Residency at their current address must be verified by credit history and/or electoral roll data.

Sam

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Hi Openrent,
I just called (old supplier) customer service and they said they have completed referencing on 16.10.2020 and sent the report to openrent. I have passed referencing. So case is closed from their end. Now it’s with Openrent or the landlord.
Current status says " Traditional Reference In Progress" How much time does it take after receiving report from (old supplier) to update it to your website?
Regards,
Krishna

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I just relocated to the UK and have no credit history and while I’m interviewing for jobs, I intend pay the rent from my savings so I see that independent means is where I belong, however I’m not very clear about this paragraph below:

Tenants paying through independent means will need to provide last month’s UK bank statements, showing savings of at least six times the rent for the term of the tenancy. Any other type of savings are reviewed on a case-by-case basis

6 times the rent for the term of the tenancy means for instance a rent or £1000 should have a savings of £6000 * 12 (£72,000) for a 12 months tenancy term? Or does that just mean have a savings not less than £6000 pounds?

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For a monthly rent of £1000 and 12 month term it indeed refers to £72000.