Anyone recently had to rent a new house in London while being on universal credit?

seatbeltnoob

How was your experience?

I'm soooo stressed. I need to move from my current place. Landlord is a relative and they are unfortunately having to sell due to a divorce. They have no hope of remortgaging because they owe their ex the full equity of the house we rent.

My income is £1800pcm from self employed. I receive around £1700 from universal credit as well. (the area I live in has a LHA of £1580). Nobody wants to know about my long time as self employed, nobody wants to know about my impeccable credit history, nobody wants to hear that I have always paid my landlord on the 1st of the month every month, in full without fail.

it's tough. staying put and getting evicted is not an option for me. I heard the horrer stories of cramped squallid & dangerous homes council put homeless people into. I have 2 young kids and I can't put them through that.

Any glimmer of hope? I feel like being self employed and being supported by universal credit is doubly whammy. Being self employed - you might as well be unemployed in their eyes.

RAS

If you are self employed are you tied geographically, or could you consider moving, particularly if you WFH? What age are the children?

sourpuss2021

That LHA is high, is that for a 2-bed or a 3? I’m in another inner London borough where it’s £1350 for two beds.

Have you tried OpenRent?  The advantage is you can message landlords directly.

seatbeltnoob

RAS said:

If you are self employed are you tied geographically, or could you consider moving, particularly if you WFH? What age are the children?

kids 1 & 4.

I do have an ecommerce business so can do it anywhere. And an infrequent london centric events business where I drive into London about 2-3 times a month whhich I am happy to do 1-2 hours drive in if needed. But we have elderly parents (both of us) that we have duties for and can't move too far out.

GDB2222

How many years accounts do you have for the self employed business?

seatbeltnoob

GDB2222 said:

How many years accounts do you have for the self employed business?

9 years, but what I gather by asking LL forums about this is they dont really care about accounts. They need to validate that by going through bank statements themselves and checking whats going out and coming in. It's just a lot simpler for them to take payslips from employees.

GDB2222

seatbeltnoob said:

GDB2222 said:

How many years accounts do you have for the self employed business?

9 years, but what I gather by asking LL forums about this is they dont really care about accounts. They need to validate that by going through bank statements themselves and checking whats going out and coming in. It's just a lot simpler for them to take payslips from employees.

I suppose that’s right. Presumably, if you show tax returns, that helps. 

It helps a lot if you know a householder who is prepared to act as guarantor.

[Deleted User]

seatbeltnoob said:

GDB2222 said:

How many years accounts do you have for the self employed business?

9 years, but what I gather by asking LL forums about this is they dont really care about accounts. They need to validate that by going through bank statements themselves and checking whats going out and coming in. It's just a lot simpler for them to take payslips from employees.

That's what it boils down too. Too many people trying to rent, not enough properties, so unless you are an excellent candidate it is very hard to get to the top of the pile.

It might actually be easier to get a mortgage if you can show accounts, and assuming you can find something you can afford.

seatbeltnoob

[Deleted User] said:

seatbeltnoob said:

GDB2222 said:

How many years accounts do you have for the self employed business?

9 years, but what I gather by asking LL forums about this is they dont really care about accounts. They need to validate that by going through bank statements themselves and checking whats going out and coming in. It's just a lot simpler for them to take payslips from employees.

That's what it boils down too. Too many people trying to rent, not enough properties, so unless you are an excellent candidate it is very hard to get to the top of the pile.

It might actually be easier to get a mortgage if you can show accounts, and assuming you can find something you can afford.

to be honest, i might get a mortgage on my income away from London, but in London my income is very low. being on UC my savings are less than £16K

silvercar

With years of accounts you should pass a credit check. Without sufficient income landlords may still be reluctant, can you afford to pay a few months rent up front? Will your current landlord give you a reference?

_Penny_Dreadful

seatbeltnoob said:

RAS said:

If you are self employed are you tied geographically, or could you consider moving, particularly if you WFH? What age are the children?

kids 1 & 4.

I do have an ecommerce business so can do it anywhere. And an infrequent london centric events business where I drive into London about 2-3 times a month whhich I am happy to do 1-2 hours drive in if needed. But we have elderly parents (both of us) that we have duties for and can't move too far out.

Where is the other person’s income for the rent or do you not live together? 

If you have 9 years of accounts then the self employed element of your income wouldn’t be an issue for me. However, I suspect there are just more attractive candidates than you applying for the same properties who may pass affordability more easily and/or will have fewer bodies occupying the property.