I’ve searched this forum and learned a few things from others with situations very similar to mine.
TLDR; I moved from Africa to the UK recently and have been searching for a 2 bed to rent but keep getting rejected.
Here are more details about my case:
My partner and I are looking for a 2-bed apartment to rent, we’ve been looking since March and after each viewing, we get an Unfortunately the landlord is moving forward with another tenant mail.
My partner is currently renting a shared house where she has stayed for 5 months and has never been late paying any rent or bills.
We have some savings and have offered to pay 6 months upfront rent at our last viewing but still got the same negative response.
Kindly help me with any tips on how I can rent my first place in the UK as someone who moved here recently. I do have the right to rent and work in the UK. Thank you.
Hi Pius
The rental situation in the UK is very challenging at the moment as there are usually many potential tenants chasing each property, so I don’t think the fact you have been looking for 2 months is unusual, I am sorry to say. Generally landlords are looking for someone who will be able to sustain the tenancy. I can only speak for myself in that on open rent I tend to welcome anyone who gives more information in their first enquiry. So (making up the details as I don’t know your situation)
‘I arrived in the UK in March to take up a permanent job as a software engineer for Dell. I have the right to work in the UK and to right to rent for 3 years (I have a code so it will be easy to check this). My partner of 5 years has been here since January and has a job at the hospital paying 30k. He/she also has the right to work and rent in the Uk for 3 years and has a code. He/she has been living in shared accommodation for the last 5 months and the current landlord would be happy to provide a written or telephone reference. We previously rented for 5 years in Nigeria and can produce references for that time. We will look after your flat well. We have 10k of savings with us in the UK to manage any unforseen expenses. We work long hours and are very quiet people so we will not cause any problems in the block. We are planning to stay in the UK for at least 3 years. We are very interested in this flat because I could walk to work from there so we would only need one car. We will be as flexible as possible in arranging a viewing. many thanks’.
Respond promptly to any communications as this is an indication of how you would behave as a tenant.
I understand that some landlords with cash flow issues may be tempted with 6 months rent up front. However it would worry me what would happen after the 6 months. In the UK it can take 6-12 months or event longer to evict a tenant who doesn’t pay rent so someone could pay for 6 months and then pay nothing for the next year. So I am much more interested in whether the tenant(s) can sustain the rent in the medium to long term. If they need urgent car repairs one month but no spare cash so they don’t pay the rent it causes me a problem.
And when you go to the viewing, if the landlord is doing it themselves, make a real effort to engage with them. Introduce yourself/selves and ask a couple of sensible questions.
I hope this is helpful. I can only speak for myself as a landlord but I have met many landlords who are similar to me. If others disagree no doubt they will say so in this forum.
Thank you for your response and example. We’ll try it.
One thing I’m still afraid about is that we’ve never seen a landlord in person. It’s usually a staff from an agency. However, we’ll tell them about our situation in detail and ask that they help us pass it on to the landlord.