OpenRent RGI – applicant moving to UK with no UK credit history or UK guarantor

Landlord Discussion
1

Hi all,

I have a prospective tenant who is currently living in Germany and will be moving to London to start a new job in investment banking on 19 October.

His base salary will be £91,000 plus bonus, and the rent is £2,000 pcm, so affordability itself isn’t an issue. He has said he can provide his employment contract and landlord references.

However, this will be his first UK job and he has told me that he doesn’t know whether he has any UK credit history. He also doesn’t have a UK-based guarantor — any potential guarantors would be in Germany.

I intend to take OpenRent’s Rent Guarantee Insurance, so RGI eligibility is important to me.

Has anyone put an applicant in similar circumstances through OpenRent’s comprehensive referencing recently? In particular, if the applicant has strong verified employment/income but little or no UK credit history, can they still pass the requirements for RGI without a UK guarantor?

I’m particularly interested in hearing from landlords who have actually gone through the OpenRent referencing/RGI process with an overseas applicant in this situation.

Thanks.

2

@Joanne51

Just know that the RGI recommended by OpenRent don’t always accept OpenRent referencing.

See eg

See also recent BBC panorama showing how easily OR referencing can be bypassed

You need to check the prospective tenant has a valid visa /right to work in the uk. OpenRent don’t do that.

Good luck

3

Openrent sell Legal for Landlord’s RGI, but they do their referencing inhouse. . I do not use Openrent’s referencing. I use LegalforlLandlords referencing directly, and I buy LegalforLandlords insurance directly too.

I have a tenant who is in exactly the same position as yours. She had been living in Germany, she had no UK Credit score and she had no UK guarantors or referees. LegalforLandlords verified her income – they contacted the HR dept of her company – and subsequently sent me a reference saying she was suitable for their RGI.

If I were you I would simply cut out OR for these things, as I did. It has to be better to buy the references and the RGI from the same company – in the event of a claim they will find it harder to reject you on the grounds that the references weren’t done correctly.

Just phone LegalforLandlords, they’re friendly. You’ll save a bit of money that way too.

4

Thank You @David240 I’m so glad you highlighted this. I’ve read the info you linked and watched the horrific stories in the Panorama programme. So due diligence is key. So how do I validate a fake passport is what I would want to know?

5

Thanks @Howard1 for weighing in as well. Does LegalforLanlords check the passports as well? I will phone them and ask how their process works. Really grateful for this info, as I was relying on OpenRents referencing and RGI.