Choosing a Tenant

The tenant you choose matters more than almost any other decision you make about a property. A reliable tenant pays on time, reports problems early and looks after the home. The checks that establish that are straightforward, but they have to be applied consistently and lawfully, and the record of how you applied them is worth keeping.

Set the standard before you advertise

Write down what you require: the income level, whether a guarantor is acceptable, whether pets are considered and how long a tenancy you want. Applying the same test to every applicant keeps the decision fair and gives you a defensible answer when you turn somebody down.

Put the rent, the deposit and the move-in date in the advert. Vague adverts attract enquiries from people whose circumstances were never going to work, which wastes their time and yours, and they often end with a complaint about how the process was run. Use the same wording for the criteria with every applicant, including the ones you like, and note the date you applied it.

Affordability

A common benchmark is that rent should not exceed roughly a third of gross household income, though a higher share can be fine where outgoings are low. Ask for evidence rather than a figure: payslips, bank statements or an accountant's confirmation for anyone self-employed.

Where income is irregular, look at the pattern across a year rather than a single month. A tenant with seasonal work and savings is a very different proposition from one with a gap in earnings and no buffer to cover it.

Referencing

Confirm identity, employment and the previous tenancy. A previous landlord reference is the most useful single check, but ask specific questions: whether rent arrived on time, whether the property was left in good order, and whether they would rent to the person again. A vague yes tells you nothing.

A credit check shows judgments, defaults and how current debts are managed. Treat one old judgment with a sensible explanation differently from a run of recent defaults. Where the law allows a right to rent or status check, complete it before the tenancy starts and keep the record of what you saw.

Verify documents rather than accepting them at face value. A payslip can be edited, a reference can come from a friend posing as a former landlord, and a bank statement tells you more about how money is managed than a salary figure does. Where it is practical, speak to the previous landlord by phone and ask what the rent was, whether it was ever late and what condition the property was left in.

• Photo identification - Confirms the person matches the name on the agreement.
• Proof of income - Payslips, statements or accounts covering several months.
• Previous landlord reference - Specific answers about payment and care of the property.
• Credit search - Judgments, defaults and the conduct of current accounts.
• Guarantor check - The same referencing applied to whoever stands behind the rent.

Treating applicants fairly

Advertising and selection must not discriminate on protected characteristics such as race, nationality, religion, disability, sex or family status. What you may ask, and how far you may weigh it, differs between jurisdictions, and some places restrict blanket refusals of tenants who receive housing benefit or have children.

Keep the reason for a refusal factual and tied to the criteria you set at the start, and write it down at the time. If you are later asked to explain the decision, you can do it from the record rather than from memory.

Guarantors and conditions

A guarantor should be referenced as carefully as the tenant. Confirm they own property or have income, explain in plain terms that they are liable for the rent, and have them sign the guarantee. A guarantee that names nobody, or that was never signed, is worth very little when you need it.

If you accept a tenant on a condition, such as a higher deposit where that is permitted, a shorter initial term or a rent guarantee policy, put the condition in the agreement. Conditions agreed in conversation and left out of the contract tend to be the ones that get disputed.

Handing over the keys

Before the keys change hands, sign the agreement, take the deposit and protect it in an approved scheme where one operates, give the required safety records and scheme information, and complete an inventory with dated photographs. That inventory is what makes a fair deposit deduction possible at the end of the tenancy.

Then leave the tenant to settle in. A short check-in message after the first month costs nothing and often catches a small problem while it is still small. Where the tenancy begins part way through a month, agree in writing how the first rent payment is worked out so neither side is guessing at the figure, and confirm the date the next payment falls due.