Reference checking overseas tenants

[Kieren]

Hi

Does the £20 Openrent referencing package cover overseas applicants (New Zealand and Ireland) please? My prospective tenants have just landed in the country from NZ but one is an Irish National.

[Sam]

Hi Kieren, If I’ve understood correctly, then I think the answers to this question are covered here:

Credit checks overseas applicants

Hi Alison, Our referencing partners can reference overseas tenants - there’s no issue with this, although the applicants do need to have been resident in the UK for at least 6 months for a credit search to be carried out as part of the reference - apologies if this wasn’t clear! This doesn’t have an impact into how Rentguard reference non-UK based tenants, rest assured - further guidance on what referencing involves can be found here. While overseas income can be included in the reference for…

Feel free to pop up there will additional questions if needed!
Sam

[Kieren]

Thanks - can I assume therefore that the credit check you perform would not be looking at their New Zealand credit history?

[Sam]

If landlords order referencing via our partners, Rent Guard, then they can only reference tenants who have resided in the UK for 6 month minimum. The reason is that information about tenants that exists or is available in different countries varies considerably. Therefore, referencing companies can’t guarantee their referencing reports will be any good if the tenant has not been a UK resident for at least six months. They don’t know what info will be available.