Unattractive tenant

lydz

I currently live in a privately rented house and have been here for five years. It looks like the landlord wants to sell so i'll need to find somewhere else however, I know that on paper I'm a very unattractive tenant - bad credit rating, relatively low income (not low enough to qualify for social housing), single parent of a young child and cat owner. My question is, how on earth will I find somewhere else to rent. I'm never going to win in a competition with a childless couple with double income, good credit rating and no pets but there must be plenty of people in my situation, any advice?

canaldumidi

Can you offer a guarantor?

lydz

canaldumidi said:

Can you offer a guarantor?

Yes, my dad who is a very secure guarantor.

Sandtree

How did you get this place? 

Presumably you're all up to date on rent? Do you pay the landlord directly or via an agency?

lydz

Sandtree said:

How did you get this place? 

Presumably you're all up to date on rent? Do you pay the landlord directly or via an agency?

Yes and always pay on time. I think my landlord would consider me a really good tenant as would my current letting agent, however, i'll be moving to an area that the letting agent doesn't cover. I think i pay the rent to the letting agent.

lydz

Sandtree said:

How did you get this place? 

Presumably you're all up to date on rent? Do you pay the landlord directly or via an agency?

Missed the first question, my salary was much better when i got this place, i'm in the final stages of retraining and had to take significant pay reduction so I could fit in studying.

canaldumidi

Having a good landlord reference, plus a guarator, will help a lot. When speaking to agents or landlords, make sure they know. Don't try to hide the negative aspects (they'll find out) but stress the positive.

Agents often have standard policies whereas applying direct to a LL you'll find they make their own policies and can be more flexible.

lydz

canaldumidi said:

Having a good landlord reference, plus a guarator, will help a lot. When speaking to agents or landlords, make sure they know. Don't try to hide the negative aspects (they'll find out) but stress the positive.

Agents often have standard policies whereas applying direct to a LL you'll find they make their own policies and can be more flexible.

This is really useful advice, thank you. Much apprecited.

kazwookie

Could he sell with you as a sitting tenant?

sevenhills

lydz said:

relatively low income (not low enough to qualify for social housing)

Having a good income does not rule you out of social housing.

Have you not seen the expensive cars parked on social housing estates?

Sandtree

kazwookie said:

Could he sell with you as a sitting tenant?

Why should he limit himself to only buyers wanting a sitting tenant?