Rental Advice

Chardonnay

Hi all! I am looking to rent a house later this year and was wondering if anyone could tell me what income, agents generally take into account, when assessing whether you can afford to rent a property.

I am self-employed, and have only been so for 7 months. My income is building slowly, but is not a lot on its own. However, I do receive DLA for my daughter, Working/child tax credits (including disability element for said daughter), Child Benefit, and until October, £40 per week In Work Credit.

Does anybody know if they would take some/all of these into account?

I'd be really grateful for any answers. Thanks in advance

louiseg0151

My fiance and I have recently (about 2 weeks ago) signed a tenancy on a new house and when we applied for the house, we put down my fiances wages, plus my DLA, ESA, HB and CTB all as income. However, we did have to provide proof that we were in receipt of those benefits.

The calculation that the letting agents tend to use is your annual income needs to be 30 times that of the monthly rent. So if you're looking for a house that's £500 per month, your overall yearly income would need to be £15,000.

Hope that helps.

Chardonnay

Thanks Louise, that's just the answer I was looking for! Thanks for taking the time to reply

louiseg0151

no worries I've been helped so much on these forums so it's nice to be able to help someone else for a change

Good luck with the house

Doshwaster

My current landlord has the policy of gross salary of at least 30x rent (e.g. Rent £600 x 30 = annual salary of £18,000 required)

Chardonnay

Thanks Doshwater, yes that's kind of what I'd heard. Gives me some figures to work with anyway, and something to aim for!

Thanks Louise