Renting for the first time in our sixties

SonnyLumiere

We're in our early sixties, retired and living in the South-East. We'd like to sell our home (mortgage-free) and go and rent in the South-West for a year or two until we find somewhere to settle permanently. Therefore, we'd need to rent while we look around. Although we would have a lot of capital from the sale and from existing savings, we currently have a low level of income (small pensions), although in a few years we'll both have additional, larger pensions.

My question concerns reference checks. We don't currently rent so wouldn't have landlord refs. Nor do we currently have the level of income that would satisfy the affordability criteria (2.5 times income?) for the kind of house we would want to rent. We wouldn't have a problem paying 6 or even 12 months' rent in advance. We both have good credit scores. So, in practice, are we likely to have difficulties in persuading agents and landlords to let to us?

Norman_Castle

Ask the letting agents of properties you like. Explain your situation to them and the landlord. If you're paying in advance proof of income shouldn't really be an issue.

Dineen33

Flash a bank statement.

Bearing in mind the £85k limit.

youth_leader

I'm 62 and have just moved into a rental.  The rental agency wanted three months bank statements to prove my income, such a faff trying to upload them as I'm not paper free yet and the format was wrong - and my name wasn't on them.  Eventually I had to register with a company called 'Credit Kudos' who can access your bank/building society - they are FSC registered.  The rental agency hadn't receive the Credit Kudos info, so I still had to upload my P60's for my widow's and Teacher's pension.    Good luck with your plans.

shinytop

SonnyLumiere said:

We're in our early sixties, retired and living in the South-East. We'd like to sell our home (mortgage-free) and go and rent in the South-West for a year or two until we find somewhere to settle permanently. Therefore, we'd need to rent while we look around. Although we would have a lot of capital from the sale and from existing savings, we currently have a low level of income (small pensions), although in a few years we'll both have additional, larger pensions.

My question concerns reference checks. We don't currently rent so wouldn't have landlord refs. Nor do we currently have the level of income that would satisfy the affordability criteria (2.5 times income?) for the kind of house we would want to rent. We wouldn't have a problem paying 6 or even 12 months' rent in advance. We both have good credit scores. So, in practice, are we likely to have difficulties in persuading agents and landlords to let to us?

We just did exactly the same thing in a similar situation.  No income, no jobs, no references but plenty of money in the bank.  We paid 6 months rent in advance and it was very quick and easy because the only reference that was done was a credit check.  When I asked for advice here, some of our resident landlords said I would find it difficult to do this; this wasn't the case for us.  None of the agents I spoke to when I was looking thought it would be a problem either.  It's a nice house in a nice area.

Interestingly, in our case, the agent keeps the 6 months rent and pays it monthly to the landlord.   

franklee

I've done the six months rent up front without problem in the past but that was some years ago and things may have tightened up now. I'd recommend speaking to all the local agents as their policies may not all be the same.

One thing to consider is what happens at the end of the fixed term. Be aware they may want another six months rent up front which may not be viable for you.  If you are looking to buy you will want flexibility so it may be better to go into a periodic tenancy after the initial fixed term. In which case you will want to pay monthly. It may be the agent or landlord won't allow this so again something to enquire about before you commit to a tenancy.

A reasonable agent should refer the question of approval to the landlord rather than a blanket no. So in the end it depends on what the landlord is prepared to accept.

It will help to charm the agent when you meet them so they present you in a positive light to the landlord.

Of course not all landlords use agents so you can rent directly from them if you can find them.  Some areas are dominated by agents and as you are moving areas going to a letting agent may be more obvious.

yksi

I have also done six months in advance years ago, but when I worked for a property agent, they were phasing it out - they had learned the hard way that after six months, the tenant is in the property, you can't get them out, and you can't make them pay without going to court and losing a fortune - so it's easier to draw a line in the sand and simply say that everyone must pass referencing or supply a guarantor.

So this is why I say that you might have difficulty renting. Having said that it's clear that some agents are ok with it. And private landlords tend to be fine with it, in fact my current one didn't even check my employment or finances at all.

Just be prepared to cast your net widely to find a place, or see if you can arrange a guarantor.

SonnyLumiere

Many thanks for all the helpful comments and advice.

A secondary question. When we sell our current home, we don't want to make the mistake of signing a rental contract before we've exchanged contracts with the purchaser. We want to avoid the obvious problem of committing to twelve months' rent before securing the house sale. Although we'll have done our research and planning beforehand about what and where to rent, I reckon we'd need at least 4 weeks between exchange and completion to organize our rental property on top of removals etc.

If we are upfront and propose a period of 4 weeks (minimum) between exchange and completion to a potential buyer, will this put many people off?

Flugelhorn

to be honest I don't think people get to discussing the gap between exchange and completion until the process is a bit further on

SonnyLumiere

Flugelhorn said:

to be honest I don't think people get to discussing the gap between exchange and completion until the process is a bit further on

Thanks Flugelhorn ... so, at whatever point in the selling process we get around to discussing the gap between exchange and completion with a buyer ... would 4 weeks or more be considered exceptional and likely to put some people off?

shinytop

SonnyLumiere said:

Many thanks for all the helpful comments and advice.

A secondary question. When we sell our current home, we don't want to make the mistake of signing a rental contract before we've exchanged contracts with the purchaser. We want to avoid the obvious problem of committing to twelve months' rent before securing the house sale. Although we'll have done our research and planning beforehand about what and where to rent, I reckon we'd need at least 4 weeks between exchange and completion to organize our rental property on top of removals etc.

If we are upfront and propose a period of 4 weeks (minimum) between exchange and completion to a potential buyer, will this put many people off?

Due to some issues with our solicitor when selling (they went awol and everyone else agreed completion dates without us knowing), we had one week's notice to vacate. We viewed a rental, signed, got the keys, organised removals and moved within 6 days. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this approach but it can be done in less that 4 weeks.  Especially if, as in my case, time consuming references aren't being done.  Even if you stipulated an exhange-completion gap when selling and the buyer agreed, it wouldn't be enforceable.