Not got a landlord reference for the past year, is this going to be an issue?

[Conor]

Hi there,

Currently just paid the holding deposit as a prospective tenant. Now the past year I have not been in rented accommodation as a tenant as have been living with a combination of friends/family.

Now I note I can put ‘living with friends/family’ as an option and it more or less ‘skips’ requesting a reference. Just wondering how much will this count against me? Am I likely to have a ‘fail’ against rental history for this, and not giving a landlord/agent reference?

Prior to this year I rented for many many years, and my last tenancy ended about a year ago so quite recent but I can’t offer to use this as a reference instead since it only asks about my current address.

What is the best way to proceed, just submit the reference as is and wait to see if it passes or fails and take it from there? Or should I contact the Landlord and explain the situation and offer to try to get a previous reference if they need one (assuming I can get one, but I assume it will be fine and I have had no issues in my previous places)

Thank you.

[Richard19]

It shouldn’t cause you to fail referencing but a landlord would probably want to do further checks as living with family could be used to cover up for renting but failing to pay rent. Best to contact landlord to explain.

It shouldn’t count too much against you, if you are landlords preferred tenant they should just do the checks, if there are multiple tenants in similar position but no issues with referencing then landlords normally go with easiest option but most landlords will want you to be up front and open so if you do that it shouldn’t cause major problem.

[Mark107]

pick up the phone or email and chat to landlord. We are always more sympathetic to those who talk honestly about their situation with us .

[David122]

Be prepared to show evidence that you were living there and why. Its a big red flag for landlords.