Renting a house can be a stressful process! From finding the right place to getting the deposit together to actually securing the rental - there are a number of steps you have to go through. 

And one of them is to go through the tenant referencing process. Agents and landlords will want to make sure that any tenant moving into a property can afford to make the payments that are being asked. So they are likely to check the following:

• Proof of character (i.e a reference from you previous landlord) - to check on your behaviour as a tenant
• Income and affordability  (i.e a Bank Statement or even a reference from your employer)  - to check you can afford the property you are asking to rent
• Credit check (most likely using a third party - to see if you’ve had problems paying bills in the past.) They must get your permission do to first.

Why are credit checks necessary when renting?

When letting out a property, landlords want to ensure that they will receive the rent they are due. A credit check can provide information about your past history with debt repayment. If you have CCJ’s or insolvency proceedings, a landlord/agent may decide  that this indicates you could have potential issues with being able to pay the rent on time. And may ask for further reassurances or even ask you to get a guarantor.

Plus, the process of getting a tenant out of a property can take some time. As landlords will need to give notice of eviction and then may also need to get a court order. So, in order to avoid such steps and be sure tenants won’t end up in arrears, credit checks help!       

Can you still rent with a low credit score?

If you have a very low, low or fair credit score - you may find it harder to get the perfect property you’re looking for. But don’t despair, there are things you can do to help you get that rental property. 

These include getting a guarantor or using a guarantor service. Seeing if you can afford to pay upfront or even look at moving into a house share.  

If you do have a low credit score and are looking for ways to improve your score then one of the things you can do is to start reporting your rent using a subscription service like ours - CanopyGrow.