Questions and massive WORRY about tenant referencing...

oliviabethemmerson

Hi all...


ANY information would be greatly appreciated regarding the following...


Me and my partner (25 & 27) are moving to Leeds in the new year. We found the most perfect apartment.


His credit rating is perfect, mine is not. I have a few late payments and one default but I have downloaded every single credit report of mine, I have no CCJS, IVA and not bankrupt. I even went as far as paying for a check of my own to check myself as a tenant and I got 567 and PASS with recommendations, I got PASS on another one.


Anyways, we are BOTH in temporary long term employment, my employer is aware the tenant referencing company (van mildert) will be contacting them and she is willing to state this. Would they contact her via email or telephone?



However, our monthly rent is £1100 and I earn £12,000 a year plus student loan whereas my boyfriend will be on £40,000. Therefore, I would be paying 400 a month and he will be paying 700. There was no way of stating this on the tenant referencing forms.


I found that our combined annual income is over £55,000 and I worked out the annual income x 2.5 in the apartment would only be £33,000. Would they combine our salaries whilst referencing?



Anyways... I am absolutely past myself with worry waiting for the results, I really don't know if our long term temporary employment is going to be an issue? I do have a few interviews secured for PERMANENT employment when we get to Leeds, however, I can not do that before moving in, as we aren't in the city, I'm hoping they take this into consideration?


If anyone has ANY information regarding any of this, please please let me know, I would really appreciate it. We paid £200 EACH just for this referencing and it is non refundable...


We submitted the forms to the tenant referencing company yesterday (Saturday). Does anyone know how long it takes for them to come back?


:j

Thank you in advance!

AdrianC

oliviabethemmerson wrote: »

Anyways, we are BOTH in temporary long term employment, my employer is aware the tenant referencing company (van mildert) will be contacting them and she is willing to state this. Would they contact her via email or telephone?

Could be either, depending on the referencing company, but I'd suspect email.

However, our monthly rent is £1100 and I earn £12,000 a year plus student loan whereas my boyfriend will be on £40,000. Therefore, I would be paying 400 a month and he will be paying 700. There was no way of stating this on the tenant referencing forms.

It makes no difference. If you're both tenants, then you're both jointly and severally liable for £1,100/month. How you sort your finances between you is your problem, so long as between you, the rent is paid. If it isn't, then you are both liable for it. If your boyfriend disappears off the face of the earth, but you are easy to track down, then you will be the one being pursued for the entire debt.


There is no hard "yes" or "no" from the referencing company. The landlord makes the decision - and it might be one he's making between you and other potential tenants, or it might be that he's decided that it will be you unless there's a real showstopper. His property, his reasoning.

oliviabethemmerson

Hi there, thanks so much for replying to me!


So my lesser salary shouldn't be an issue if combined our salary is more than enough?


I had just read in a few places that temporary long term employment wasn't a great indicator...


Unfortunately we are doing this through a letting agent, therefore, I am assuming it will be them who makes the final decision?


Thanks so much, I really appreciate it.

AdrianC

oliviabethemmerson wrote: »

Unfortunately we are doing this through a letting agent, therefore, I am assuming it will be them who makes the final decision?

Not necessarily. The agent are just the middle-man between you and the actual decision maker, the landlord.

The landlord might delegate the decision to the agent, or might just take recommendations from them at face value, or he might have his own opinions...

Red-Squirrel_2

oliviabethemmerson wrote: »

However, our monthly rent is £1100 and I earn £12,000 a year plus student loan whereas my boyfriend will be on £40,000. Therefore, I would be paying 400 a month and he will be paying 700. There was no way of stating this on the tenant referencing forms.

So you’ll be bringing in 23% of the household income but paying 36% of the rent? How did you come to that decision? How will bills be split?

G_M

temporary long term employment may be an issue - again, as Adrian says, it depends on the LL/agent - whichever is making the decision.

LLs and agents don't look on 'temporary' employmet as ideal. If/when the employment ends, rent arrears can follow.

On the other hand if it's 'long term' (whatever that means) and appears secure from what the employer says, then a LL can be reassured.

There again - if the LL has delegated the decision to the agent, and the agent has a policy of always rejecting applicants in temp employment (without looking at individual circumstances) then that's what would happen. Agents have a duty to act in the LL's best interests and interpret that in their own ways.


So it all depends.....

oliviabethemmerson

So basically I am currently employed through a recruitment agency doing long term work, I earn around £1100 a month and will pay 400 in rent and then around I'm assuming 100 in bills so that leaves me with 500 to myself each month.


However, as soon as we get to Leeds, I have interviews set up for full time jobs with salaries of £20,000 a year.


Do you think this will be a problem to the tentant referencing? Thanks!

AdrianC

Repeat: It's entirely down to the landlord. None of us are psychic.

Red-Squirrel_2

oliviabethemmerson wrote: »

So basically I am currently employed through a recruitment agency doing long term work, I earn around £1100 a month and will pay 400 in rent and then around I'm assuming 100 in bills so that leaves me with 500 to myself each month.


However, as soon as we get to Leeds, I have interviews set up for full time jobs with salaries of £20,000 a year.


Do you think this will be a problem to the tentant referencing? Thanks!

No, nothing to do with the referencing, just seemed like a possibly unfair split in your partner’s favour and caught my eye.

Why are you assuming £100 in bills? You should discuss it.

oliviabethemmerson

Hi,


My partner makes £40,000 a year compared to my current £12,000. However, as I have said, I would be changing jobs as soon as we get to Leeds in order to gain a permanent job with a higher salary.


I lived in a house share before with 5 people and only paid £50 a month in bills, therefore I am assuming bills between 2 people who are extremely energy efficient, would not be as much.


We have enough money between us to pay the bills, rent etc. I am just worried about the temporary employment with the referencing... however, we will see.

jonnygee2

As your partners income will cover your entire rent, many agencies will simply let you do all the income checks on his salary and omit yours entirely.

They might still credit check you, and get references though - but more to check whether your are suitable to rent the property (rather than just whether you can afford it).

I'd say your bigger issue is that you are both in temporary employment. Do your current contracts run out before the end date of the tenancy period? If so, this might not be accepted and you might have to look for guarantors.