Residential rental agreements

[jmak]

When you want to rent a flat through an agency, do you normally have to provide all your financial information before the landlord accepts an offer in principle?

 

It seems odd to me that I'm handing over a load of personal information before the landlord has confirmed they're interested in my offer.

 

It's ages since I rented a property, but it's not how I remember it. With buying I had to provide financial information to the mortgage company, but I just told the estate agent I had a mortgage offer in principle and how much I was offering and the agent and seller took me at my word that I would pay.

 

I'd expect some kind of credit check - just feels early in the process.

[localzuk]

The process has always been:

 

Say you want a place,

Hand over all your details so they can do a credit check

Get confirmation whether you've got the place or not

Get their financial details to set up your standing order

 

So, yes, that seems right to me.

[paulkerton]

Yes. My recent rental was conditional on the checks of affordance being made.

Ie that I had the income I said I had. It was fully automated. I just had to allow 24 hour access to my bank account details via API.

[ICTDirect_Dave]

The process has always been:

 

Say you want a place,

Hand over all your details so they can do a credit check

Get confirmation whether you've got the place or not

Get their financial details to set up your standing order

 

So, yes, that seems right to me.

 

Of course if you use certain well-known estate agents there's a step between confirmation and standing order where you pay fees for seventy-five different spurious reasons and end up very out of pocket!

[fredesq]

Every time they've asked for this (being bank statements), i've blacked out all transaction names and types other than proof of income and existing rent. I've left the amounts in though, but they don't really need to see I spent £1.99 on the play store or £400 on fixing my car; all they want is proof of income.

Never had a probem.

[jmak]

Yes. My recent rental was conditional on the checks of affordance being made.

Ie that I had the income I said I had. It was fully automated. I just had to allow 24 hour access to my bank account details via API.

That's fair enough. Just we haven't had any indication of whether they're interested in our offer. I'd expect them to say

 

Price is fine, move in date is this

 

I'll accept your offer subject to you providing evidence of income.

 

Then they show us contract, then we sign and pay deposit.

[localzuk]

That's fair enough. Just we haven't had any indication of whether they're interested in our offer. I'd expect them to say

Price is fine, move in date is this

I'll accept your offer subject to you providing evidence of income.

Then they show us contract, then we sign and pay deposit.

Yeah, I've rented 9 properties in my adulthood. None of them have gone like that.

 

Credit checks have always come before indication of accepting any offer. As generally, they don't negotiate price - the price is what they say and that's that. It is very much a landlords market - they get to set the price.

[steve]

And now landlords need to do a "Right to rent" check: https://www.gov.uk/landlord-immigration-check

To see if your are an illegal immigrant or not.

[Garacesh]

Can only parrot the same.. Yeah, that sounds about right.

Landlords own the market. Generally speaking they'll shift all the 'risky bits' to before they offer you the tenancy, even if it's a massive inconvenience to the renter.

'Cause everybody does it, so what're you gonna do, just go elsewhere?

[Primus]

Speaking as someone who is a (reluctant) landlord, if you've offered the rent they were asking for then I'd assume they will accept you provided you pass the credit check. You probably don't realise it but the number of people with bad credit is astonishing and the very least the landlord is looking for is that the rent is paid on time. It's also a sign you're able to manage obligations in general - eg. if something is wrong with the property then you'll let the landlord know.

 

That said I had a tenant (who'd passed a credit check no problem) where the bathroom fan had broken, because of Covid the agency weren't doing inspections and then months later she complained about the bathroom always being damp etc. If she'd just let me know I'd have had the fan fixed/replaced and she'd not have had months of a damp bathroom etc. It's enough to drive you mad!

 

It's pointless proceeding with anything until a prospective tenant can prove their credit and affordability. I would only take a property off the market once those checks had been completed successfully and we were therefore proceeding. I've had so many prospective tenants that can't pass the credit check or then find a guarantor etc - it's a real pain.

Edited July 23, 2021 by Primus

[Garacesh]

Speaking as someone who is a (reluctant) landlord, if you've offered the rent they were asking for then I'd assume they will accept you provided you pass the credit check. You probably don't realise it but the number of people with bad credit is astonishing and the very least the landlord is looking for is that the rent is paid on time.

True, but the trick is let prospective tenants know. Tell them "If your checks all come back OK, we're good to sign." or something.

I'm not inferring that specifically you personally do or don't, but I've only ever had that once. Every other time we had to hope that was the case.

[Primus]

True, but the trick is let prospective tenants know. Tell them "If your checks all come back OK, we're good to sign." or something.

I'm not inferring that specifically you personally do or don't, but I've only ever had that once. Every other time we had to hope that was the case.

 

You'd hope the agency would do this but if they don't the prospective tenant can always ask.