My girlfriend who has been renting a flat for four years has just been given notice as her landlord is selling up.
She has an opportunity to rent a similar flat right opposite her however the letting agents are saying her income isn’t enough for their system to process as they need a minimum amount on their system in order to go through securing process (she earns enough to pay for her rent etc as same as she currently pays).
Only option it seems for her is for say me to put my name and earnings as a joint application. Obviously with an IVA I know this will cause a few issues and my dad can act as a guarantor if required (although he is retired).
My concerns are, will her application fail due to me having an IVA, will this effect her in anyway re her own credit history which is perfect and could this effect my IVA?
Basically I will not be living there officially but my income along with hers will act as being enough to enable her to hopefully secure the flat.
All advice appreciated as she is worried about being essentially homeless in one months time and I’m worried about issues it could bring up with my IVA provider etc.
Hi Choccy I can't comment on whether it will affect your girlfriends application negatively or not, hopefully someone with more knowledge on this can. But I just thought I'd let you know that most letting agents now, once the agreement is signed, will inform the council tax/gas and electric companies of the names of the new tenants to transfer billing over to them. So even if you're not officially living there you could end up financially linked because both your names will be on the utility bill, and the council tax will most likely ask questions.
I say this from experience - me and my partner jointly applied to rent our current home but I didn't move in immediately. My partner called the council tax office to 'move himself in' but obviously didn't give them my details because I hadn't actually moved in yet although I planned to soon, hence the joint application. A few weeks later we got a letter from the council tax office asking why both our names were given to them by the letting agents but only his name was given to them when he called. When he informed them that I didn't move in at the same time as he did but planned to in a few weeks, they were ok with that. So unless you plan to live there and pay council tax there it may not be the best idea to do a joint application. We also got a welcome letter from British Gas a few days after moving in with both our names on and we are now financially linked on our credit files due to this account.
Hope this helps!
Sarah x
Last edited by mummy2elliekate on Mon Mar 18, 2013 2:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
6 year IVA accepted 7th March 2013... the start of a new journey!
Yeah while I stay over now and then I will not officially be living there as I pay my council tax elsewhere. The agents are rediculas imo as she has been renting for over 4 years and the other flat is same in design and rent yet they are saying she can't live there as they deem her not to be able to afford it!
That's a shame, is it the same letting agent as she is currently with or different? Will they not just accept a reference from previous landlord/agency and a guarantor or are they saying the computer says no based purely on her earnings? If she can and has afforded her rent in the past on her wages then their systems must be set to the wrong earnings amount, she is proof of that! Or perhaps they are just being over cautious.
It is ridiculous really, we have just started our IVA (for 6 years) and I just hope that our landlady doesn't decide to sell up otherwise we'd be in trouble as we are both in the IVA - so I'm sure no letting agent would accept us because of the 'checks', despite our rent being top priority and part of our I&E. Private rentals aren't easy to come by and I'm a bit dubious about how protected you are with them so I wouldn't feel comfortable with one unless i already knew the landlord/lady.
Sarah
6 year IVA accepted 7th March 2013... the start of a new journey!
I had the same concerns. I wanted to move in with my partner. His housemate was moving out of a flat that they both rented and I wanted to move in.
I called the agency that looked after that flat (Quantum Estate Agents, in York) and told them that I was in an IVA. I also said that I didn't want to have to get a Guarantor and explained I could afford it.
It wasn't a problem. They were reassuring. Basically I had to complete the referencing check, they got an independent company to search me...I don't even think it was a credit check. I just filled in a form online about my income, etc and details of my current landlord. I lived with a friend and never had an official tenancy contract. He acted as a reference he had to complete an online form to say I had always paid on time and how good of a tenant I was. On my online form, I clearly explained about my IVA and that I didn't see it as a problem. I also explained that should they get referencing from my boss at work, that they should not disclose about my IVA.
Work had to fill in an online form too, just stating what my salary was. That was fine.
So I basically passed the same day and now I am moved in. No hassle.
I also checked with another agency in York (as we were considering moving somewhere else at one point) and the other agency had no issues either. They said as long as I could afford it and as long as my reference from my current landlord was OK, it would be fine.
I've never heard of a letting agent running an income check before. Could her family or a trusted friend agree to stand as guarantor, or could they provide her with additional monies each month so that she passes this hurdle - the fact that she has rented for such a long time would indicate that she is actually creditworthy.
I can't comment on whether it will affect your girlfriends application negatively or not, hopefully someone with more knowledge on this can. But I just thought I'd let you know that most letting agents now, once the agreement is signed, will inform the council tax/gas and electric companies of the names of the new tenants to transfer billing over to them. So even if you're not officially living there you could end up financially linked because both your names will be on the utility bill, and the council tax will most likely ask questions.
