Having trouble with referencing checks when trying to rent an apartment- any advice?

topdog2012

My girlfriend and I have recently started trying to look for an apartment together. Before we started we made a spreadsheet and really went into details on all our income/outgoings and decided on a monthly budget we could afford (taking into account things such as utility bills, council tax etc.)

We've had a look at a few places that we've really liked, however we seem to be coming up against a few issues when trying to proceed further with the rental. I am self employed and have been since August 2016: I work as a private tutor and my clients mostly pay me in cash which I deposit on a weekly basis into my personal bank account. I do this full time and this is my main source of income. I don't employ any other staff and don't pay myself a salary as such, I simply use my earnings to pay for essentials and my current rent.

My girlfriend works a couple of jobs: one is as a sales assistant (which she does on a permanent contract for 16 hours a week) and the other on a casual basis as a hospitality assistant (which she is paid for hourly).

Between us we both earn well above the "required combined earnings" threshold for the properties we are viewing, and we definitely earn enough to pay for the monthly rental, additional bills as well as cover other agents fees/security deposit however we appear to be having issues when it comes to referencing checks.

Since I'm self-employed, agents are asking me to provide either tax returns covering 2 years (which I don't have since I've only been self-employed for a year) or an accountants letter (which I don't have since I take care of my own business earnings). The alternative to this seems to be to either find a guarantor (which we have tried to do, but noone either of us are connected/related to fulfil the criteria the agents are asking for) or to pay a full 6 months of rent up front (which we could try and save for, but are reluctant to pay all in one go).

Is there anything we can do to make the situation better? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

FBaby

Unfortunately, you are considered 'risky' for the purpose of rental guarantee.

The issue is not so much whether you can afford to rent now, but whether you will still be able to do in 3/6 months time. What happens if you are ill and can't do your tutoring for many weeks and your girlfriend loses her hourly paid job? You would then be reliant on HB which is what they want to avoid in the first place.

Also, LLs will consider their chance of recovering any unpaid rent if you were to stop paying and again, you would show to be high risk from this perspective, hence the request for rent upfront/guarantor.

You best chance is either to save the money upfront and wait until you have, or try to look for a place from other means than through high street agents, although in this case, it's you who will need to vet the LL to make sure you don't fall for a deadbeat LL or scam.