Hi, a bit of advice for a newbie if you would please.
OpenRent advises referencing ALL those over 18 years old that will be living in the accommodation, is this what most landlords tend to do? I’ve had a viewing where the couple are currently relying on the income of just one of them so presumably this will just be one applicant? Would referencing the other partner be money well spent (and is best advice) or is it ultimately of little consequence?
Thanks in advance.
check both .The other may have a CCJ or worse ,bound to affect both
Thanks, even if the tenancy goes in just one of their names?
up to you Do you not want to know the background of both for a few pounds extra? You can set against tax.
even if only one is on the tenancy, you need to add the other as a “permitted occupier”. In addition, if they are married or civil partners, there are “home rights” for the spouse even if they aren’t named on the tenancy. In that situation, I would always check both because you may end up with the unnamed resident as your tenant if the relationship breaks down.
Great advice, thank you.
Definitely get them on the books. May affect insurance as well
I would get all occupiers over 18 added to the tenancy and reference them all.
Similarly, if the agreement includes a guarantor, does the landlord also need to conduct a reference check on the guarantor?
Can someone please advise?
Thanks in advance
You treat the guarantor as you would any other applicant PLUS verify that they own their own property. So, 6 months bank statements (particularly useful if they are in receipt of pension/s), employment references, credit check, etc.
You do this because if you need to use the guarantor, you are in effect having them act as tenant from a financial perspective.
Thank you make sense
What happens when references are not cleared by the set deadline, do we have to pay again to initiate the service for the same tenant?
Also, is it recommended to have Rental Gurantee Insurance scheme from OpenRent?
Hi Mahesh1, I always reference the guarantor as well otherwise all you have is a name of a person, you don’t know if they could afford the rental payments if called upon or even if they exist.
If the referencing period does expire then you would have to pay for another reference however I would question why a new reference would be requested. If using OpenRent you do get updates throughout the process. Much of the timescales are down to the prospective tenant so normally you get an update on voters roll and financial position quite quickly. If the referencing period expires due to this then my view is they have something to hide. If they are avoiding providing these details in a timely manner, are they going to pay their rent in a timely manner.
The previous landlord reference I take with caution on the basis that if they were a bad tenant, I my view is an unscrupulous landlord would give a good reference even if the tenants were bad to get them out. If no response is received, I take the view that the landlord does not want to give a truthful bad reference so does not give any.
Where I find most references time out is with the employer so if this does happen I ask for wage slips instead but the downfall of this is that it only tells you about their past status. It could be they are on disciplinary and about to be sacked or just finishing a contract. However, by this time, hopefully yuo will have a good (or bad) feel about the application.
No perfect answer but that is the risk we take with being landlords.
Personally i have never used rent guarantee schemes. I know some say they are useful if you have doubts about a prospective tenant, but I take the view if I do have doubts, they are not the right tenants.
Hi, I only have a check the one that is going to be on the tenancy but I only have one property. I live next door and I go through every perspective tenant personally and suss them out if you will. I have never been wrong so far and have been letting the property for 30 years.
Even if they fail referencing and they have good reason I.e have only been back in the country for a year or have multiple income from different areas. If I like them I still rent the property to them.
Renting is always a risk any one of them could decide not to pay and it would take me at least 6 months to get them evicted.
Good luck
We conducted a viewing yesterday and got a good feeling - Mum, of Nigerian decent, working as an enhanced support worker in the NHS and two children 11 & 9, well behaved, in good schools and came across as bright. We were all set proceed but just asked her to confirm the £53k income she put on her application as my sister (also works in the NHS) said that wouldn’t be her salary. She came back and apologised saying it was a keyboard error and that her income was £29,000. Our rent is £1200 and she also stated that her current rent is £1400 and that she gets money from her siblings from time to time. We’re now torn as we really liked the family but a) are unsure she will pass the affordability test during referencing and b) aren’t convinced it wasn’t intentional.
Any thoughts from experience or instinct would be appreciated.
It sounds like she would fail referencing on affordability grounds.
She needs at least £50,400 pa to sustain that rent. Her famiy are effectively acting as guarantors. Culturally, this is all typical, but I wouldn’t rely on it with that much of a shortfall.
If it’s a typo, then it shows that she is not someone who pays attention to important detail and that wouldn’t be someone I’d let to. If it’s not a typo, well… nuffsed.
I have a Nigerian family. They are wonderful, but then my own family lived in two different countries in West Africa for over a decade while I was growing up so I’m pretty familiar with how things go on over there. That gives me some insight into how they tend to live when they’re not familiar with life in the UK. As with all nations (in ref to A_A’s post) there are some who are dishonest and some who are honest. For balance, the only issues I’ve ever had with lets have been from very, very white people.
Hi Sean,
Whilst they may be ‘nice people’, nice wont pay the rent.
This is time when you need to go with your head not your heart.
You will need to get used to turning down tenants that appear nice.The only reason you have met these tenants is because you are doing your own marketing and vetting. If you had used an estate agent they would not have made it onto a short list for you to consider.
My view is to move on and look for alternative tenants.
A keyboard error? I do not believe that. Move on
I agree with Martin41.
Being/appearing nice means nothing.
I had a local, well known, respected man view my property earlier this year. My dad knew him and my neigbours knew/know him. He is a nice chap, talked the talk etc.
During conversation, I explained I would insist on him passing a full reference. Only then did he reveal he has debt and pays his current landlord cash in hand at half the going rate.
His landlord also refuses to let his email address out.
Only accept 100% tip-top, people you can fully check.
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