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panda7190
Posts: 60 Forumite
Hi
Apologies if this question has already been asked, I've tried searching for it but couldn't find anything.
Together with my partner we are planning to rent a one bedroom flat in London, I am currently sharing a house and he's living with his parents. I'm a student and work part time earning over 11k before tax & I also receive student loan of over 10k a year. He's earning around 16k a year.
I've been reading about the credit checks with agencies and it says you have to earn 2.5x annual rent so for a £1,000 flat (and I doubt I'd find one that cheap) it would be £30,000. As you can see our income adds up to less than that however if I was to include my student loan in it, its way over the required minimum.
Would the letting agents consider student loan as income? How likely would we be to pass the credit checks? We have no cjjs, both have credit cards that we regularly pay off, never missed any minimum payments, have never declared bankruptcy. The only thing I'm worried about before we pay up a couple hundred pounds to the agency for checks is that we won't pass the check as our working income is not high enough.
Thank you for any answers you might have for me.
Apologies if this question has already been asked, I've tried searching for it but couldn't find anything.
Together with my partner we are planning to rent a one bedroom flat in London, I am currently sharing a house and he's living with his parents. I'm a student and work part time earning over 11k before tax & I also receive student loan of over 10k a year. He's earning around 16k a year.
I've been reading about the credit checks with agencies and it says you have to earn 2.5x annual rent so for a £1,000 flat (and I doubt I'd find one that cheap) it would be £30,000. As you can see our income adds up to less than that however if I was to include my student loan in it, its way over the required minimum.
Would the letting agents consider student loan as income? How likely would we be to pass the credit checks? We have no cjjs, both have credit cards that we regularly pay off, never missed any minimum payments, have never declared bankruptcy. The only thing I'm worried about before we pay up a couple hundred pounds to the agency for checks is that we won't pass the check as our working income is not high enough.
Thank you for any answers you might have for me.
190/1378 - 52 week money challenge 2016/17
£265 - new fivers so far and still going :beer:
£265 - new fivers so far and still going :beer:
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Comments
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As my ex is looking for a private rental, I am hearing all about this now lol. He is often pre qualified before even seeing a property (i.e. they ask how much are you earning, which then gives you an opportunity to ask if X income is allowed).
You are far better asking the individual agencies how their income formula works out and what counts as income. There are differences between them.
I suspect however that you will need a guarantor or to pay rent up front. You might also have to consider renting a double room in a shared house, lots of couples do this. A one bedroom flat in London might be a bit ambitious, particularly with bills.
You could also ask the accommodation services at your university for advice.0 -
I think it's unlikely you will pass credit checks with your income as it is not a permanent income source but worth asking the agency.
I have got round this in the past by offering to pay 3 months rent up front, have you got any savings? Would this be a possibility for you? Otherwise a house share is probably your only option of living together.0 -
And I am afraid you will also have to think very carefully about what happens if your relationship goes awry, discuss this with your boyfriend. Things can get very difficult when you are tied into a tenancy agreement but depending on an ex for half the rent for a small place (or room).0
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When I first rented with my partner we had to prove 30x rental payment. Annoyingly on one house we were £200 below the threshold, so they declined us. This was based on working income only- I had a student loan for about £7,500 more but they don't consider it as income.
I presume most agencies use the same calculations unless you offer rent upfront.0 -
Neither of you will pass the credit checks. He wouldn't pass the credit checks in a much cheaper part of the country so you are not going to be renting anything in London. Why does he earn so little?0
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Wow - that's harsh - £16K isn't exactly slave labour wages - its more than minimum wage. We cant all be stockbrokers and newspaper editors.....Why does he earn so little?
OP - I would look around for friends of friends, gum tree etc and see if you can find a private rental. Good references are worth their weight in gold if either of you have ever rented before?0 -
I live in a university town and the only letting agents that will take student loans into account are the university and specifically student landlords.
I will be quite honest, on 27k pa income, I don't think you will be finding a 1 bed flat in London. You might get away with a 6/12 month rental if you can pay upfront out of any savings. As has been mentioned, perhaps a double room in a shared house may be the best next step, also easier to get out of should living together not work.
A bit out of date but may help you get the gist of the areas you are thinking about as to what they will expect you to earn between you, or at least give you something to aim for.
http://www.cityam.com/238342/map-how-much-you-need-to-earn-to-live-in-every-london-postcode
Would your partner be able to take on any extra hours at work/take on a second job? The reason I ask is that the living wage is 19k per person (or thereabouts) so I would assume he works part time.
Good Luck!0 -
TheGardener wrote: »Wow - that's harsh - £16K isn't exactly slave labour wages - its more than minimum wage. We cant all be stockbrokers and newspaper editors.
OP - I would look around for friends of friends, gum tree etc and see if you can find a private rental. Good references are worth their weight in gold if either of you have ever rented before?
If you can only earn 16k it probably isn't worth trying to live in London. 16k in many parts of the country is a good salary but in London it really isn't very much.0 -
He earns "so little" because that's what the job he does pays. Like someone mentioned we can't all be stockbrokers or newspaper editors, and I really appreciate any answers but not judging us by how much we earn.
He's unable to work extra hours too often as the company he works for doesn't really have extra hours and his rota changes every week so unable to take a second job. We both take up overtime where we can but it doesn't happen too often.
We've both rented before (not together, both in previous relationships) and can both provide good references. We also both have savings so yes paying 3/6 months rent upfront would be possible, I guess that's another option to ask the agencies about.
As for 27k pa income, with my student loan it adds up to over 37k pa which would be fine as we are only looking for a small flat for around £1,200 a month (excluding council tax or bills) as that's how much flats in the area cost, it's just whether this whole student loan gets accepted as income.
But thanks everyone for your answers I really appreciate them, I guess we'll have to look for private rentals (there's not many in the area we've been looking in though) or speak to letting agents.190/1378 - 52 week money challenge 2016/17
£265 - new fivers so far and still going :beer:0 -
He earns "so little" because that's what the job he does pays. Like someone mentioned we can't all be stockbrokers or newspaper editors, and I really appreciate any answers but not judging us by how much we earn.
He's unable to work extra hours too often as the company he works for doesn't really have extra hours and his rota changes every week so unable to take a second job. We both take up overtime where we can but it doesn't happen too often.
We've both rented before (not together, both in previous relationships) and can both provide good references. We also both have savings so yes paying 3/6 months rent upfront would be possible, I guess that's another option to ask the agencies about.
As for 27k pa income, with my student loan it adds up to over 37k pa which would be fine as we are only looking for a small flat for around £1,200 a month (excluding council tax or bills) as that's how much flats in the area cost, it's just whether this whole student loan gets accepted as income.
But thanks everyone for your answers I really appreciate them, I guess we'll have to look for private rentals (there's not many in the area we've been looking in though) or speak to letting agents.
I wasn't judging you on how much you earn just pointing out that on your salaries trying to live in London is perhaps not the most sensible option.. On your income (without the student loan) and his salary in some areas of the country it would be possible for you to rent a house or even to get a mortgage and buy one. Salaries are not always lower outside London.0
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