Renting second property while joint mortgage on first

brutal_deluxe

Hi All,

I currently joint-own a house with my girlfriend with a repayment mortgage.

We have hit relationship trouble and I am looking to move out for a while, whilst she takes on the house.

Basically, will these circumstances adversely affect the success of any rental applications (i.e. credit checks etc) as it seems to be about 200 quid+ for a rental application these days? Obviously I don't want to waste an application if no landlord will take me on.

Any questions welcome if it helps.

Thanks

BD

Tixy

The credit checks a landlord would carry out wouldn't reveal that you have an existing mortgage, or that you are a homeowner.

Even if you inform a potential landlord/agent of this information I don't think it would be seen as a negative. Possibly the only negative is if you specifically told a landlord you were 'moving out for a while', which makes you sound like a short term tenant, and they may give preference to someone appearing to want a longer term rental.

brutal_deluxe

Thanks, that's the answer I was hoping for!

Also, the letting agent are charging over 200 quid for credit checks on EVERY applicant. Is this normal??

Basically you have to part with 200 quid just for a CHANCE to be considered as a tenant. So if there were 6 applicants, even if you all had equally strong applications, you would very likely lose 200 quid?

Just seems a bit unfair to me!!?

audigex

It's very unfair, although I successfully got a refund from an agent recently on those grounds: I didn't fail a reference check, they simply preferred another applicant. As such, their reference check was unfair and I demanded (and received) a refund. The trick is to make sure they have any important information up front, so they can't blame external referencing agencies: they could have made the decision before incurring that expense.

In theory they should only reference check one applicant at a time, and if they fail move onto another. In practice you're right that there can be unscrupulous activities.

There's probably good money to be made buying a property in a desirable location, then advertising it to rent, "reference checking" people, finding some fault in their application and pocketing the cash. You could probably make more than the rental income would be.

brutal_deluxe

It's daylight robbery!

So what information did you present up front? I have been given a CheckMyTenant form which asks for info like previous addresses and current salary etc. What else could I give them?

I notice that Experian give a free credit check though I'm not sure what the conditions are.

Thanks, this is really useful!

BD