Self employment - potential tenant

Pennylane

Grumpy_chap said:

Are you using a Letting Agent, or managing yourself?  If you use a LA, they can use credit reference agencies to assess the risk of an individual.

Doing it myself.

mattyprice4004

Tax returns are key here - 3 years should do it.

I had all this (as a tenant) 7 years ago - provided 3 years of returns, and that still wasn't enough (!!) so had to stump up 6 months of rent up front.

Thankfully at that point trust was established, and I went on to buy the house from the landlord.

lookstraightahead

Why do you think self employed is any greater a risk? Genuine question.

Pennylane

deannatrois said:

Ask to see his bank statements.  Some would regard this as an invasion of privacy but as they want to rent your property its up to you what you ask to see. I'd also check their social media history - can give an indication of lifestyle. Credit checks don't always give enough as they will only show what's publicly available like CCJ's.  Someone can have a lot of debts but no CCJ's.  References can be written by a LL only too glad to get rid of a tenant.  

Initial searches on social media came up with nothing but now I have found them and don’t like what I see.  I know I don’t have to live with them but I believe my life would not be my own anymore and I would end up being told how to live my life.  Thanks for that tip. 

Pennylane

lookstraightahead said:

Why do you think self employed is any greater a risk? Genuine question.

Sorry, only just seen this.  As I said in my OP I do have some sympathy because OH has always been self employed.  I also know that over the years, especially in the early years we had trouble getting mortgages, insurance etc.  As it turns out we have turned them down now.

spoovy

I'm also curious why you think being self-employed makes them more risky than being on a payroll.  Or why sympathy is involved.  In my field at least self-employment is something many/most aspire to -- it's what you do when you've 'made it'.

numbercruncher8

To be fair it isn't just the OP thinking that is it.
Virtually every agency will generalise and presume that someone employed with a regular income is going to be a bit more reliable than someone who is self-employed. 

spoovy

I'm aware that opinion is common I'm just probing as to why the OP has it, because It seems to me outdated and unhelpful.  Maybe there's some data on it, I'm not claiming to be an expert.

Pennylane

spoovy said:

I'm also curious why you think being self-employed makes them more risky than being on a payroll.  Or why sympathy is involved.  In my field at least self-employment is something many/most aspire to -- it's what you do when you've 'made it'.

I said I sympathised because we have been there years ago, which I already explained. Often when we said OH was self employed other agencies didn’t want to know.  my niece and her partner bought a shared ownership house a couple of years ago and they had to provide so many years evidence of income as he was self employed.  Prior to this no mortgage company would touch them as he didn’t have enough evidence.  They were therefore renting for many more years than they wanted to.