Short term rent without traditional income

Boozle

In a situation where the chain has fallen through for the second time on the house we are buying. Rather than lose the sale of my flat I am looking at short-term rented. This is also helpful as where we are moving to is a few hundred miles away from where we live, so this would be better for viewing properties etc. I am self-employed, however I have been a full-time carer for my husband for the past 2 years. On paper we have no income, however we are very fortunate to have substantial savings that we can live on.

Can anyone advise me how I approach this with a lettings agent? Could I offer to pay 6 months rent up front, so as to bypass the need to check earnings etc? We can obviously provide proof of savings, and this is traceable if needs be.

PasturesNew

I am in one right now. I have no income, I have money to buy my next house but sold my house last month and moved into short-term.

I used spareroom to find something. An alternative is AirBNB. There are a surprising number of variations of what's on offer, for how long, at what price. Some are self-contained accommodations.

I wanted the benefit of not being tied into an AST that might overlap a house purchase + not wishing to have a raft of bills coming at me in my name.

Agents would take "6 months paid up front". I preferred to not feel guilty, awkward, dodgy, under scrutiny with them though .... I feared the snotty looks I'd get and the "veiled threats" of whether I'd pass credit checks (that'd be pointless in my opinion as I've no credit and no debts and no income)... I've also no references.

Boozle

Thank you. I don't mind paying for 6 months as I need a bit of security owing to my husband's condition. If we find a house in the meantime it gives me breathing space to get it decorated etc before we go in. It has to be self-contained etc for his medical needs.

pinkteapot

We did this last year (relocated with proceeds of house sale, needed to look for jobs). You'll find it really tough with lettings agents - they're very "computer says no". We only got through because at the point we applied for the rental, I was still employed in my old job in our old location, so they put my salary down (even though they knew full well I was leaving to come join my husband in the new area!!).

Look for properties advertised direct rather than through lettings agents.

It's still worth trying agents - ring round all the ones in the relevant area and explain the financial situation up-front and ask if you'll pass their application/credit check process with no income.

PasturesNew

https://www.openrent.co.uk/ is where you can find landlords directly.

AdrianC

The problem you're likely to face is that "Oh, that's OK, I'm happy to pay 6mo upfront" is a favoured tactic of people wishing to use the properties for nefarious activities - such as an operating base for ladies of negotiable affections, or some intensive gardening.

It also provides no safety net for the landlord once the initial six months is up.

Boozle

Thank you all, very helpful to know. I'm not looking forward to trying to secure somewhere!

pinkteapot

AdrianC wrote: »

It also provides no safety net for the landlord once the initial six months is up.

I don't really understand this argument when you're talking about someone like OP (or the position I was in) with substantial savings.

When we rented, we had enough cash in the bank to pay the rent and bills for about 20 years. I don't see how we were worse tenants than someone with a job but no savings. What happens if they lose their job?

It's pretty common to rent when relocating so there must be a lot of people having the same problem each year.

Point taken re nefarious activities though!

coffeehound

Letting Agents may treat you as being 'of independent means' and therefore not subject to the credit check, if you can demonstrate that you've got sufficient money in the bank. One quoted a figure of £18K savings against a let on a small flat, with 6 months rent up front.

Boozle

Letting Agents may treat you as being 'of independent means' and therefore not subject to the credit check, if you can demonstrate that you've got sufficient money in the bank. One quoted a figure of £18K savings against a let on a small flat, with 6 months rent up front.

Thank you, this is reassuring.

theartfullodger

Self employed you must have accounts, bank statements, tax returns - at least one of those, surely?