First time renting - worried about checks and references

alizee

Hey everyone, my husband and i are looking to move into our first rented property.

We looked around and finally decided on a lovely flat.
We contacted the LA and managed to get a viewing pretty quickly.
We loved it so much, the second day we brought in all the completed paperwork and the deposit of £825 and £200 agency fees

Now, ever since we've done that, on thursday, i have been so worried that something will go wrong, especially to do with my work references.

basically i started as a christmas temp and have been kept on, i work 25 hours a week but the contract is still fixed term, everyone at work assures me that's what they usually do, and then keep extending it until they make you perm.

We can afford the rent and bills from my husband's salary but i'm worried they won't take mine into consideration because i am a temp ( the 2 1/2 rule)

They had a brilliant reference from my husband's boss and a good one from my HR manager but they did ask if i was a permanent or temp on the reference.

Our credit checks should be quite good, my husband missed a direct debit from his phone once, a while ago, but that's the only bad thing, no debt, nothing.
Mine's all in green as well.

The property wasn't on any websites anymore yesterday ( it was on quite a few.)

If they take into consideration my salary, we'd be over the 2 1/2 rule with about 3-4k a year.

We're also quite young, i'm 21 and he's 22, i hope that won't work against us.

Has anyone tried renting like this?
We should be finding out tomorrow but i am so worried i'm making myself ill! (i suffer with heart palpitations when i'm stressed - figures!)

HappyMJ

Quit worrying. A brilliant reference is great that should be enough and you both have good credit ratings. No CCJ's, no defaults. Everyone expects a late payment or two. So just wait till tomorrow.

bristol_pilot

Based on what you have posted, you should not fail a genuine credit check.

But there is a scam in which a property is offered to multiple applicants and multiple deposits taken but then it seems they all 'fail the credit check' and the agent keeps the credit check fees (for checks that were never done). If this happens, don't just accept the situation.

Personally, I'd never rent through an agent.

alizee

it's a genuine letting agency, was recommended to us by friends that are currently living in rented accommodation organized by that agency,

there isn't a lot of choice in the area. and private LL's are very very hard to find.

mossy

I'm sure it will be fine. Try not to worry! You could always phone the letting agents tomorrow to see how it's going, some results come back fairly quickly so they might already have some. Now they've selected you subject to checks your age won't go against you so that's another thing you don't need to worry about.

I know it's a stressful situation (buying a house is even worse!!) try not to let it 'do your head in'

alizee

Yeah that's another thing i'm not sure about...should i wait? should i ring them?

mossy

The worst thing they'll think is that you're some panicky first timer (which you are, bless ya) but as long as you're not rude I'm sure they'll be patient with you!

I'm sure they'll call you when they have all the checks etc in, but you could always phone tomorrow just to check how long things will take etc. Good luck

alizee

i am! haha i think i will wait for the to contact me

thanks! x

PasturesNew

I'll be doing the same later this month, but my expected rent will be 60% of my income, bills taking it up to 85% - chuck in the cost of food and I'll have spent all my money on paper.... so I'm kind of dreading it. I'll just have to look confident and loaded

I have no employer, no job and can't prove my income either. I'm expecting to have to fork out £4-5k cash and pay everything up front and keep my toes crossed.

I do wish it were easier though, if one could get a Certificate of Credit Worthiness that you could take in and get an instant yes/no/maybe before parting with any cash.

alizee

that would be amazing! it's the wait that is killing me

Irish-John_2

How do people on Income support and carers allowance get a rented flat if it's this strict?