Poor credit and no guarantor- how do i rent?

in_debt24

Hi all,

Have got a bit of a problem.

I'm currently on a debt management plan so obviously i dont have a good credit score.

My landlord (the private, no credit check kind!) is looking to sell in the next 2 months so i need to find somewhere quick. Problem is everywhere seems to do credit checks and if you fail they want a guarantor. Both my parents are disabled and not working, no other family and certainly no close friend who could/would do this for me.

I need to rent in central london, ideally with the same sort of landlord but trying to find one is difficult.

Any Ideas?

silvercar

Can you afford the rent? Do you have a large deposit? Central London is very expensive.

As unfair on the landlord as it sounds, your safest bet may be to wait until evicted and then present yourself to the council as homeless. They will then have an obligation to house you.

timberflake

Can you offer a couple of months rent upfront as security? Honesty is the best policy, if you tell a LA or LL your predicament they may be symathetic and willing to work something out.

Jowo_2

silvercar wrote: »

As unfair on the landlord as it sounds, your safest bet may be to wait until evicted and then present yourself to the council as homeless. They will then have an obligation to house you.

The OP should read the Shelter website and contact Crisis for advice to understand the way the local council should treat an application for homelessness and various ways of preventing it.

In central London (and many other places), there is an extreme shortage of housing versus demand and local councils can barely cope with housing those in priority need, such as the disabled, pregnant women/families with children, and they tend to get shunted into B&Bs, hostels, and so forth.

A healthy single person (despite being homeless) could get short thrift, despite their obligations, and if they are in employment, even shorter thrift. On a historic thread, a poster gave a link to a Crisis mystery shopping exercise where people posed as homeless and presented themselves to their local council for support. Nearly all were treated inadequately and the statutory obligations were not met. Few even made it past the receptionist. One person posing as a victim of domestic violence complained about her treatment and then discovered the housing officer who dealt with her inadequately had given a false name...

overandout_2

Do you *need* to rent in central London? How about looking elsewhere? Even greater London would be cheaper - the further you can go out of central London would be cheaper

Baron_Greenback

overandout wrote: »

Do you *need* to rent in central London? How about looking elsewhere? Even greater London would be cheaper - the further you can go out of central London would be cheaper

The OP wasn't asked for money-saving tips, and I'm fairly sure they will have worked out for themselves that central London is expensive, and the further out you go, the cheaper it gets.

The problem of renting a flat with a poor credit rating is the same wherever you go. My only tip would be to check gumtree as there are quite a few private landlords who bother with credit checks.

timberflake

Baron_Greenback wrote: »

The OP wasn't asked for money-saving tips, and I'm fairly sure they will have worked out for themselves that central London is expensive, and the further out you go, the cheaper it gets.

The problem of renting a flat with a poor credit rating is the same wherever you go. My only tip would be to check gumtree as there are quite a few private landlords who bother with credit checks.

But the cheaper the place, the more chance you've got of passing the credit check.

pingu2209

timberflake wrote: »

Can you offer a couple of months rent upfront as security? Honesty is the best policy, if you tell a LA or LL your predicament they may be symathetic and willing to work something out.

Normally they want 6 months rent up front

timberflake

pingu2209 wrote: »

Normally they want 6 months rent up front

A private LL may be a bit more flexible on this though.

Fire_Fox

in_debt24 wrote: »

Hi all,
Have got a bit of a problem.
I'm currently on a debt management plan so obviously i dont have a good credit score.

My landlord (the private, no credit check kind!) is looking to sell in the next 2 months so i need to find somewhere quick. Problem is everywhere seems to do credit checks and if you fail they want a guarantor. Both my parents are disabled and not working, no other family and certainly no close friend who could/would do this for me.

I need to rent in central london, ideally with the same sort of landlord but trying to find one is difficult.

Any Ideas?

Move into someone's house as a lodger? Unlikely you will need a guarantor and it should be much cheaper than you own place, leaving you money to clear your debts faster.

charliee_3

can you get good reference off you current landlord? that might help.. and a private landlord might be more forgiving than a letting agent who has set procedures..