Renting, Partners DRO advice needed

simonmt1981

Hello


this week my partner and I have found ourselves in a rather desperate situation.


on Monday we were informed by our letting agency that the landlord wants to rent the property to a family member and that we have 2 months to vacate the property.


having looked into that there is nothing we can do and well within his rights etc. However we now have a problem where we are finding it difficult to rent another property.


this is mainly due to the fact my partner has a DRO which she is currently about 8 months into. Now for some context this was for a few thousand pounds and was mostly payday loans that spiralled out of control etc. her rent at previous properties was always paid on time and she has good references from previous landlords and I have no reason to think we wouldn't get one from the current landlord as I always paid the rent on time and look after the property.


however the DRO is making it difficult to even get a letting agency to consider us. despite the fact that my credit file is fine and I am actually the main earner in the household (we are both in employment, myself full time, she works 30 hours a week) and could actually easily cover the full cost of renting by myself.


with such a small amount of time to find a new place I'm very worried we are going to be homeless in two months time.


As we haven't lived in the area for 2 years we don't even qualify for council housing apparently.


I really don't know what to do and could really use some advice.

NotEvanAPot

Search privately rather than via agents, or you will need a hefty initial payment amount (3-6 months rent in advance plus secured deposit).

Is your current landlord aware of situation? Speak with them, if you've been a good tenants and they know other landlords, may be able to point you in the right direction.

sourcrates

If push comes to shove, just take the tenency in your own name, leave your partners name off it.

I'm sure plenty of people on DRO's are renting.

NotEvanAPot

Most agents use a copy and paste AST, which will require all adults residing at the property to be named as tenants. To not comply would be a breach, resulting in potential early termination and forfeited deposit to cover cost of re-letting property.

Agents also keep a fairly off the record database or evicted tenants nowadays. Circulated by the same company who they use for referencing. It isn't advisable to become a member of such a database.

alltaken

Secret blacklist circulated behind the scenes without regulation! Sounds like the building industries workers fiasco.

NotEvanAPot

Absolutely alltaken, and as a paid service provider, they can do as they choose if they can back it up with evidence of tenant behaviour.

Like an employment reference, if it is honest, it can be said, if you can support a statement if questioned.

alltaken

Are you sure about the database? EDIT: Seems to be a few.

So the posters situation can't be solved by renting in one name only?

micky2phones

simonmt1981 wrote: »

Hello


this week my partner and I have found ourselves in a rather desperate situation.


on Monday we were informed by our letting agency that the landlord wants to rent the property to a family member and that we have 2 months to vacate the property.


having looked into that there is nothing we can do and well within his rights etc. However we now have a problem where we are finding it difficult to rent another property.


this is mainly due to the fact my partner has a DRO which she is currently about 8 months into. Now for some context this was for a few thousand pounds and was mostly payday loans that spiralled out of control etc. her rent at previous properties was always paid on time and she has good references from previous landlords and I have no reason to think we wouldn't get one from the current landlord as I always paid the rent on time and look after the property.


however the DRO is making it difficult to even get a letting agency to consider us. despite the fact that my credit file is fine and I am actually the main earner in the household (we are both in employment, myself full time, she works 30 hours a week) and could actually easily cover the full cost of renting by myself.


with such a small amount of time to find a new place I'm very worried we are going to be homeless in two months time.


As we haven't lived in the area for 2 years we don't even qualify for council housing apparently.


I really don't know what to do and could really use some advice.

Hi, can you ask at your local council ? They may have a list of landlords, may even know landlords who can help in your situation

alltaken

Isn't social housing designed for exactly this situation. Financial difficulty and potential of homelessness. Could be an option?

National_Debtline

NotEvenAPot’s suggestion of going directly to landlords rather than through a letting agency is a possibility. I’ve found landlords less likely to run a credit search than agencies. Search classified adverts and Gumtree.

James
@natdebtline