Renting a flat - Reference nightmare - URGENT

[tech]

All

How do you rent a flat without references. For some letting agencies, employer references are not good enough. They need someone to act as gurantor for me . The stupid reason being that I should have six months history. How do you overcome this problem ?


Your guidance is appreciated.

Thanks
tech

[ND]

Dont you have any friends or relatives in UK ?

[MWazir]

When I first came to UK I had the same problem.

I asked one of my work colleagues to be my personal reference and asked my employer to provide a work reference.

Another point is letting agencies require these kind of references. Landlords who manage the properties themselves generally require less information. Deposits and standing orders are sometimes sufficent. Many people put up their properties for short term lease on websites.

www.loot.co.uk for instance

Regards,
Mujahid

[tech]

thanks for your response. Can you share your experince ? What exactly is required from a guarntor ?

I am embarassed to ask someone if it requires to disclose too much of details and documentation (Salary, income,etc).

What happens to persons who don't have friends/relatives close enough to do this ?

If there is alternative, let me know.

[MWazir]

The letting agency I went through just asked me to fill up a form first and provide the name, address and contact number of my personal reference along with the rest of the details.

When considering my application, they then wrote a letter to my friend asking general details like

How long have you known the applicant?
How do you know the applicant?
Any comments about the applicant that you would like to share? etc

I may be wrong, but Personal references are not required to be gaurentors. Certainly my friend wasnt required to be a gaurentor by the letting agency. Generally letting agencies also do a credit check on you to see if you have been bankcrupt before, or have any county court judgements etc and charge you for it. (I think about £70).

Hope that helps.

[ND]

Most of them dont ask for guarantees but they do ask for references.

I gave the reference of my friend as hes staying here from long time when I arrived UK.You can ask collegues reference or you can discuss this with your HR department as your are working for them they may be happy to give you a guarantee as well.

[hcho]

You might consider joining a flatshare for a while. Of course, this route works better if a person is single. The good side of the flatshare is that you don't have to deal with red-tape stuff like references, bills etc

[tech]

Thanks for the responses. Can you suggest me a websites where i can see reputed agencies letting flats in zone 4, 5.

What is practical apprpach for contractor to rent a flat from both landlords and agencies ? can you suggest documents one need have to avoid runaround ?

your suggestions are highy appreciated.

[tvt]

Tech,

Where exactly do you want to rent, what is your budget and how many bedrooms do you need?

[tech]

i need 2 bedroom flat between 750 -825 pounds in harrow, sudbury or stanmore or nearby places.

Thanks for your response.

[tvt]

I don't believe you can find a decent flat for that budget in Harrow or Stanmore (stir clear of any council flats or ex council flats!). I suggest you try Kenton area as well where prices can be cheaper. If you cannot find a guarantor you can suggest to pay an extra deposit. Sometimes even one week extra deposit will alleviate any Landlord fears. Give as much details about your future projects / employment. Also get references from previous bank / employer (esp. reputable ones) even if they are from a different country.