we are moving to UK from abroad, we have Skilled Worker Visa, but we still don’t have UK bank account.
We made a viewing by video and the landlord agreed to have us as tenants. Since we still don’t have UK debit card our UK friend payed the deposit for us. Now we started a referencing process.
We’ll move to UK on 1st on July and this is also the start date of our tenancy period. So we still don’t have neither UK bank account nor credit history in UK. I have a job contract with the company which sponsored Visa issuing and relocation process. How can we proceed in order to pass referencing?
referencing is not required by the landlord. if you are coming from abroad then it is a bit pointless as it won’t cover things like criminal prosecutions, etc in your home country, it only covers the UK (except in some cases countries like e.g. USA do have systems landlords can access to reference your history in the USA). some landlords will still do it though as it is always a possibility (not saying this is you) that tenants lie and are in fact not coming from abroad but just want to avoid referencing. some people say that the landlord can’t get insurance without referencing but I haven’t found that to be a problem. so in your case the landlord may ask you to pay more months of rent in advance instead of referencing, or do both but expect the referencing to come back with nothing.
It is likely a referencing agency will get back to your landlord and say you are “high risk” or have not “passed referencing” as they had insufficient evidence.
Many tenants coming into the country offer to pay rent in advance to get round landlords doubts about their ability to pay. Often a they will also ask their future employer to issue a letter to the landlord saying they have a definite job offer and what their rate of pay will be.
Some landlords use rent protection insurance and will be refused insurance to cover any rent defaults - most don’t as it is expensive and only covers very low risk tenants. But yo do need to figure out how you can reassure the landlord you wil be a good a tenant. If you have someone who can act as a guarantor this can also be helpful.
But remember there is strong competition for rented accommodation which is in short supply in the UK and you have to convince your landlord you will be the best tenant.
No but what I’m saying is they can come and get a property with NO credit history and NO bank account however not just me but people on UC who have a credit history (and no credit history can be as bad as a poor history) and who have a bank account and can even pay 6 months plus upfront are quite categorically told no
different landlords will have different views as to what they require in the way of “proof” I had a tenant who paid 6 months upfront with no job . She was a great tenant My initial reaction was that I liked her , so I gave her the chance after 2 weeks she got a job
well, you have a point if you mean that net migration for last 2 years has been 1.2million and where do the government think they are all going to live. Unfortunately this is the real reason rents are driven up and landlords can be much more picky.
Hi Mark,
Thank you very much for a detailed answer.
Do I understand right that if I propose to pay 6 months ahead and have a letter from my future employer and have an UK based guarantor, my chances to be considered low risk tenant are not bad?
It seems to me that all these don’t help to pass referencing, am I wrong?
They properly won’t help you pass referencing with a third party agency - but they will probably convince most landlords that you are a tenant they might want to let to . I would certainly consider you a possible future tenant I currently have several tenants who did not pass referencing but have guarantors.
Hi, sorry for jumping in here but desperately need help. Our daughter and her family is coming to the UK from South Africa and are due to arrive here in little less than a month. She is coming in on a skilled worker visa with a sponsored job in Salisbury and her husband is coming in as her spouse. We have been trying to secure a rental property for them but have had no luck, even though they have offered to pay 12 months’ rent upfront. She already has a job but her husband doesn’t. He is a highly skilled and experienced Carpenter/Joiner/Kitchen Fitter and will not be short of work when he gets here, either through an agency, as self employed or on a full time permanent basis. So far, all of our applications for houses have been rejected and the feedback we’ve received would suggest that it is due to him not working yet. The offer of 12 months rent upfront doesn’t seem to sway anything in our favour. Is there any advice or help any of you can offer? We’re running out of time here!
Hi Monica - if you are in a position to do so, offering to be a guarantor for your daughter might well be the thing that swayed a potential landlord.
They should both ensure they have an up to date share code to prove their right to rent in the uk . No landlord in the UK can enter in a contracts with an an overseas tenant without seeing original residence documnent or without the share code.
The other hurdle is referencing and income checks so they should be ready to send bank statement etc and references from current.
Rental property is in demand and a landlord is always going to give preference to the tenant who can quickly prove with evidence their income and right to live in the UK.
But don’t give up - remember there are now lots of applicants for every property and not enough properties for rent to go round so you just have to keep going and you might not always get exactly what you wanted.,
