Just an update on this.. I've been turned down by the credit referencing agency. They came back and said bad credit rating - listed as bankrupt.. not sure why it says that...
Anyway.. they won't even accept a guarantor.. said they only use guarantors in cases where the rent is a little high for the wages..
Pretty crap.. oh well.. back to the drawing board.. it only took a year to finally find a flat and now I can't get it due to the credit check.. not sure what I'm supposed to do next..

Oh no, that's a real shame. I fear we will be in the same boat if we decided to go with the private rental, I think we will need to wait on the council for the same reason as the ketting agency said they would do checks inclusing a credit check. Have you got your name on the council list for your area? Is there anyone who is renting privately rather than through an agency that might take you on?

Hi Gillian,

I'd have no chance with a council property as it's just for me - no kids or benefits that would help push me up the queue.

I might have to try going down the private landlord route - had been hoping to avoid that, but maybe it's the only way.

I think a few folk have mentioned that Countrywide seemed to be ok with them when they were in a TD, so maybe I just got unlucky with the letting agent. It's just infuriating as the letting market in my area is not very good right now - hardly any decent properties are coming up, and when they do, they go instantly, so it's hard enough trying to find one that you like, never mind actually getting passed the credit check!

Dp,

The Homeless Act changes in March 2012, The priority rule will no longer exist, if you can proof that you are unintentionally Homeless or Potentially Homeless, the local authority are duty bound to take you on as Homeless......

Hi all

I would have to agree with porcupine; if you find a arented property that suits your family needs, you will find it very difficult to be rehoused by the council as you will be deemed as 'adequately housed.' Ant priority will then be for people who need housed , not just wanting to change their house. It is difficult as some letting agencies are ok with Trust Deeds, however the decision does lie with the landlord, so it is upto them. Gillian, if you have stopped paying your mortgage, will you have some extra funds to allow for the cost of he credit check?

Porcupine -thanks for that information on changes to The Homeless Act, things like this are always good to know in advance.

Hi Shona, we will miss this mortagge payment but Nram said they might move straight to repossesion if we miss it so we are worried now as we obv want to try and stay until the council find us a place but we want out asap too so we are between a rock and a hard place.

dp 1973,

Do you have a current Landlord and/or Employer?
Many Landlords will take a view on your stability and affordability based on these factors and possibly a guarantor. Credit checks are actually less good as predictors of a tenant's attitude to a tenancy. Increasingly, a growing number of us will fail credit checks, it is a historic statement of financial management, PTD and Bankruptcy are steps being taken to 'stop the rot' and ideally, a realisation that something needs to change and a new start!

Have you tried posting free on Gumtree for example, state what reassurances you can give and what area you need, costs you time only?

Hi - just an update on this...

Getting nowhere fast... was told by letting agency that I would fail reference checks which are required for any property they let... the only alternative is to pay 6 month's rent in advance (plus the deposit).. then after the initial 6 months I would need to resign for another 6 months and pay in advance again. I would not be able to go on a month-by-month lease once the initial term was over.

Seems ridiculous to me - but anyway.. I managed to scrape together 6 month's worth of rent and asked to be put forward for a flat and they came back to me today to say that the landlord had checked his paperwork and it stated that his landlord's insurance would be invalid if the tenant did not pass the referencing. Therefore even though I was offering the money up front they refused to let to me..

This seems ridiculous given that 1. I am offering to pay the full lease up front, and 2. I can give them references from my employer and previous landlords. I have even rented through this company in the past without any problems so they should have their own reference for me!

I quizzed them on this but they just said that it all depended on the credit reference... I did get the impression that it was a 'computer says no...' situation... unfortunately you don't get to have a reasonable conversation with the landlord directly as you have to go through the agency.

So.. again.. back to square one.. in response to Pamjo, I am currently living with parents, so don't have a current landlord, but I was renting from July - December 2010 in Bristol before I moved back up to Glasgow.

I am employed and have also offered my parents as guarantors... the letting agency said that guarantors don't make any difference as they are only interested in the tenant actually passing the credit reference.

I've tried Gumtree but there are only 3 properties on it in the area I'm looking in and all 3 are from 3 months ago and are already gone (confirmed by email responses from the advertisers).

Feel a bit like I'm trying to push water uphill with this... I thought getting into a TD was supposed to be seen as a positive step? It seems like I have made myself un-let-worthy as a result!

Hi-I do understand and certainly many Landlords think they will have hassle to deal with or have other things to do or lack confidence in the personal contact with their customers. The question over references, for me is so much more down to gut feeling. I actually had someone apply and tell me he was looking for a new start in a new town, has a new girlfriend there. Nobody will no where he's gone and the only one that might come after him is her ex when he's out of jail! How much happier would I be if his current or most recent landlord and employer were willing to vouch for him and he had at least a deposit and rent.
Try tepilo website and makeurmove, both with www at the start and either .com or the other one at the end.?
Good luck!

Hi dp1973,
I know you've tried gumtree but have you tried advertising in the wanted for a property to rent. That is what I did and I had about a dozen private landlords contact me. It's worth a try and not all private landlords are interested in a credit check.

Good luck
AlphaB

Hi

Just to provide my story on this ...

We are in a rented property and are self employed. Because we couldn't provide three years accounts (as we were not self employed that long)the letting agent said we would need to pay the first 6 months up front plus the deposit. No credit check was conducted as we could provide the up front rent. We were also told that after the first 6 months we would again need to pay the next 6 months up front at new lease signing. We managed this because at that time, we had not entered a trust deed. After the second 6 months lease, we then requested to change our contract to a one year lease, renewable annually, which through the letting agent the landlord agreed to. At this point, because we were in the property one year, I took a chance and decided to start paying the rent on a monthly basis rather than 6 month chunks - to the letting agent. Nothing was ever said about this and no-one from the letting agency ever queried it (this is a National agency). The landlord has now dispensed with the letting agent and we deal directly with him.

So for us, although it was hard to get the initial 6 months rent up front, everything worked out once the landlord knows that we are reliable tenants who pay on time and look after their property for them. We are in this property 5 years now.