Why is it so hard to get accepted?

I am 22 F, me and my partner have been desperately looking to move into a property before my due date May 9th which is 2 weeks away now, our old lease finished almost a month ago and we always paid rent on time. I have already viewed 3 properties from openrent alone yet keep failing the reference check. I realised this was because I haven’t yet filed my taxes as I’ve only just recently started my business, however I do have an accountant for reference but my accounts are not yet set up. I don’t understand why it’s so hard to pass reference check when we have offered up to 6 months rent upfront since I’m so desperate at this point, and also all details are correct on application, and my accountant does have proof of my income. At this point we’ll be homeless by the time the baby comes since we’ve been living with family in the living room.

self employed ? need to show accounts to satisfy landlords Usually

Yes this must be what it is. It’s just annoying that the timing is definitely not on our side right now since my accountant is still in the process of setting up my accounts.

I have been S/E for 50 years. When I first started out i could not get a mortgage for £4k!! after a few years got mortgages eventually throwing money at me. All down to proving ability, reliability etc Takes time . No quick fix . You need a guarantor, may help

If you are self employed, and especially if you’ve only started it recently, you are not going to pass the referencing process. This is usually because there’s a relatively strict criteria that the referencing company uses and if you don’t fit that criteria (similar situation for students and overseas renters) then it’s an automatic fail and your best bet is to explain this to the landlord so that they can conduct their own checks rather than them having to pay for referencing that won’t pass. If you can provide the landlord with proof of earnings and a guarantor as Colin mentioned, this will hopefully help. That upfront communication with the landlord is super important. Best of luck.

3 Likes

Hello,

Thank you so much for explaining this, I’ve since spoken to the landlord directly about providing additional relevant evidence and was luckily able to move ahead with renting!
I honestly had lost hope but finally something came through.

2 Likes