Turnaround with buy to let reference checks
For many years landlords in the UK who have been looking to rent their properties out to potential tenants have always been careful to ensure that a credit reference check is carried out on any potential tenant to make sure that they are not experiencing financial problems that could result in them being unable to make payments on the rent.
This was a safety net for landlords who wanted to ensure that they would not be left high and dry with tenants that could not actually afford the rental payments on the home.
However, following the turbulent times that the mortgage market has been through over the past couple of years there has now been a turnaround in this trend, and tenants are now running their own checks on landlords to ensure that everything is above board and the landlord is not on the verge of having the home repossessed, which would quickly leave the tenant stuck without any place to live.
One lettings official said that there had been a marked shift in the trend when it came to landlords and tenants running checks, and he added that prospective tenants were asking far more about the backgrounds of the landlords as well as about where their deposits will be held.
He said: “Tenants have been far more interested in landlords’ backgrounds and are asking more questions about where their deposit is being held.” Speaking of the relatively new arrangement with regards to deposits being held in government approved schemes he added: “As the deposit typically amounts to six weeks’ rent, we are finding fewer tenants are comfortable with this arrangement although in the vast majority of cases the lettings agent keeps hold of the funds.”
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