5 tips to pass a tenant reference check quickly
Congratulations you've found your perfect rental home. Before you pack your bags there are a few things that need to happen. First, you first need to prove you are the right person for the property. That means showing your landlord you can and will pay your rent through a tenant reference check.
Not to worry, the Husmus team have created this handy guide of our top tips for getting through the process! Here they are:
Be honest
Be responsive
Make sure you can afford all the bills
Sort out your paperwork
Give your references a heads up
Be honest
It may seem like a very basic statement but don't be one of those people who "forget" key information when they're filling out tenant referencing forms. This is a definite no-no. Being truthful and upfront with your landlord goes a long way to build their trust and confidence in you. The truth will always out so get ahead of things, even if you have some not so positive things to share. It's worth remembering as well that a good relationship with your landlord starts before the rental begins and may continue long after you have moved out of their property if they are called on to give you a reference. So keep to the truth and give as much detail as you can. Doing this will put you in a good light and help speed the process along.
Be responsive
No one likes to be kept waiting. If you've ever sat in and waited for that all important email/message from your friend, colleague or whoever, then you'll know how frustrating it can be. With this in mind, it is best to tackle all referencing forms or queries as soon as possible. Doing this will get you into you new place faster and give your landlord a good first impression of you! Plus, who doesn't secretly want to be seen as the super organised one?
Make sure you can afford all the bills
Can you truly say you have thought about your budget? If so, well done! If not then it's time to get serious and make sure you can really afford this property. You must take into account all of the bills too, NOT just the rent. We mean things like council tax, water, electric, gas etc if they are not included in the rent. If you think you need more information about whether your property is really affordable then it is worth checking out the money advice service's top tips for putting together a rental budget.
Bear in mind as well that you will need to pay your rent one month in advance and may need to put down a deposit before your rental even begins. Be realistic and honest with yourself about what you can afford, it will save you heart ache later.
Sort out your paperwork
Do you know where your last council tax bill is? How about your passport? In order to fill out referencing forms you're going to need to be able to prove who you are and where you live. So you will be needing your passport or other photographic ID and a recent bill. If you can't lay your hands of these sort of key documents straight away then it might be time to get filing. We know it's not the most exciting task and we don't recommend that you save it up as a special treat but it is super important.
It's worth remembering as well that having your paperwork in order isn't just useful for getting your rental references sorted but if you've cleared out all that excess junk mail and got neat tidy files then you've made a start on your packing too! If you're not sure where to start, why not take a look at this helpful article from BT.
It might also be worthwhile to check out your credit report ahead of time to make sure there are no nasty surprises there. If you find that your credit history is not stellar, as we said before, be honest in your application and explain why.
Some landlords may require you to provide bank statements as well. They ask for this as a way of gauging if you can afford the rent and bills, confirm your salary and rent payments. At Husmus we do this via Open Banking so no human sees your statements, just the results of our affordability calculations.
Give your references a heads up
Tenant referencing usually involves contacting your employers and landlords to verify your income and past rent payments respectively. It's good practice to pre-warn your references before you put their names down. And then to follow up with them afterwards to make sure they received them and are going to fill it out as soon as they can. After all, while you might be waiting on tenterhooks to find out if you've got the property of your dreams your referee is probably not. Bear in mind that your employer may be able to provide you with an employment reference letter to simplify things for you.
Hopefully doing all this will bring you one step closer to getting your dream rental. The next step will be to pay your deposit and rent in advance. Check out our post about the tenancy fee ban to ensure you are not being unlawfully overcharged.
Struggling to find the funds for your next Deposit? Don’t miss out, our Deposit Promise can help take out the sting, check it out.