Advice on renting with a settled CCJ

Moving_Forward2020

I'm hoping someone can give me some good advice as I'm struggling to find accurate and up to date information.

So, I've been living in a family members house for about 10 years (7 by myself and the last three with them) and I've finally got myself in a financially secure position whereby I can afford to move into a rented house. I have a secure job which pays 3 x the rent I'm looking at and the only debt I have is my credit card which I pay in full every month. The problem is I have an old CCJ still on my credit file which for few years I wasn't aware of (debt connected to an ex who I lived with at the time) as soon as I was aware of it last year I paid it but is still of course going to be an issue for another two years till it clears off my credit files.

A couple of landlords have said they would be happy to accept me as a tenant if I can provide a guarantor. In the past my mum has done this for me (going back 13 years ago) but she now only works park time (around being a carer for my family member) and without looking, I know she will also have a low credit score as she has no credit at all and hasn't had for years. I've been told her income will not be enough to act as guarantor (she earns roughly double the rent and doesn't have rent to pay herself, only standard bills)
I wouldn't want to ask anyone else to be a guarantor as i feel it is a large burden to ask of someone, even though i am confident in ability to afford my rent.

I offered to pay additional rent up-front to a landlord today and they just dismissed the idea as they are insured via Expirians RGI and if I dont pass their credit check they won't be insured, extra rent upfront or not.

I expect this is something I'm going to come up against again and again and is very disheartening. I was awful with money in the past and have worked incredibly hard to get my finances and credit files in shape and can happily provide evidence of this.

I dont have to move but my current arrangement has a detrimental effect on my mental health at times and I'm really ready for my personal space and independence again. Not sure I can cope for another two years!

Apologies for rambling, i just wanted to get as much detail in so hopefully someone can help give me some ideas to work around or some advice! I know a lot of landlords will instantly dismiss a tenant for a CCJ without taking into consideration the individual circumstances.

Thanks in advance for any advice!.😊

MovingForwards

You will need to find an understanding private landlord, rather than one who rents their property via a letting agency.

I lost count of the amount of times a LA slammed the phone down on me the moment I mentioned CCJ and no guarantor.....

yksi

MovingForwards wrote: »

You will need to find an understanding private landlord, rather than one who rents their property via a letting agency.

THIS.

To explain, agents are not all !!!!!!. The problem is that it's their job to work for the landlord, not for the tenant, and they are obligated to get the best tenant they can - which will be someone who presents little risk of being late with the rent or being difficult to evict. Unfortunately there are not a lot of tools for them to check this and credit reports plus payslips are all they have.

It's not a solution to pay six months' rent up front because agents have learned the hard way that tenants can still stop paying rent at the end of the six months, and still can't be evicted for months.

My current landlord didn't ask for a payslip or a bank statement, and didn't do a credit check. I had nothing to hide, it was just luck. I got a bargain flat in a well-managed, safe, peaceful building. But it shows the good private landlords are out there (check Gumtree - and post your message in Facebook groups local to your area - don't mention the CCJ).

Mardle

Try Open Rent

AdrianC

Moving_Forward2020 wrote: »

I offered to pay additional rent up-front to a landlord today and they just dismissed the idea as they are insured via Expirians RGI and if I dont pass their credit check they won't be insured, extra rent upfront or not.

That in itself should tell you a lot. It should remind you that it's not necessarily that the landlords themselves are being obstructive or discriminatory. They have external factors they need to consider, too.

Even without that, just pause and put the boot on the other foot. Think of the situation from the landlord's point of view...

You are looking for a new tenant. You have several applicants... Which do you go for? The one with a terrible credit history? No, because you're handing them a contract for thousands of pounds and the key to an asset worth many tens of times that. If they repeat their proven past behaviour, it will not only cost you a lot of money, but will involve a lot of hassle. If you've got a hefty mortgage on the property, then this could not just hit your income hard, but could even risk your own home.

So why wouldn't you just go for one of the other applicants?

"But they've offered to pay rent up front" doesn't work - not only does that merely delay the point at which you (the landlord, remember) is exposed to the risk of non-payment, but it's behaviour which is commonly associated with other behaviour you really don't want from a tenant - it's often the route taken by those who want to grow commercial quantities of dope or use the property as a knocking shop...

Is it horrible for those in your position? Yes.
Is it unfair on you personally? Yes.
But remember - they aren't rejecting you personally. You just aren't their safest bet.

Cakeguts

You have to also remember that how you got the CCJ is actually none of the landlord's business. They don't actually know anything about you apart from the fact that you are a higher risk than someone who hasn't got a CCJ.