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What Do You Need to Rent a House: A Step-by-step Guide For Tenants

Han Wu
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What do you need to rent a house? What documents should you prepare? When planning to rent a house in the UK, you may ask yourself these questions. This blog will tell you: what do you need when renting a house, ways to rent a house, and considerations when having a property view and signing a contract. Keep reading and find out more!

Table of Contents
What Documents Do You Need to Rent a House UKIdentityEligibilityCredit ChecksGuarantor Ways to Rent a PropertyDirectly From the LandlordThrough a Letting AgentProperty ViewingSigning the ContractContract CheckLandlord Check Red FlagsTenants ResponsibilitiesFAQs:

What Documents Do You Need to Rent a House UK

What documents do I need to rent a flat? Many tenants, particularly first-time renters, find this issue quite stressful. Gathering all the required documents can be overwhelming, and the process often leaves people confused and frustrated before they even begin. Below, we have listed some of the most important documents you need to prepare in advance. Check it out!

Identity

Proof of Identity: passport, driver’s license, birth certificate, visa, residence permit.

The first thing you need to prove is your identity in the UK, you can provide the landlord with your passport, driver’s license, and birth certification. If you are not a UK citizen, then you must provide documents like a visa, and residence permit to prove your right to reside and rent in the UK. Also you need to make sure all the documents are valid.

Eligibility

Employment References: payslip or pay stubs, employment contracts, and bank statements, etc.

After confirming your identity, the landlord has the right to assess your finances, your suitability and ability to pay the rent. In this case, you need to prove your eligibility with employment references, such as your paycheck, pay stubs, employment contracts, tax returns status, etc.

Credit Checks

In the UK, a credit check is also crucial when renting a house, many landlords or letting agents will require a credit reference to assess a tenant’s financial reliability. Tenants can obtain a free credit report from agencies like Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion. Credit check reveals past debts, missed payments, or CCJs, indicating whether the tenant can afford rent. Poor credit may lead to rejection, require a guarantor, or a higher deposit. A strong credit history improves approval chances. Highly suggest improving your credit score before applying to rent a house if your credit score is not ideal.

a brown wallet with many bank cards

Guarantor

If tenants fail any process mentioned above, a guarantor may help you. Guarantors are usually tenants’ parents or close relatives. In the UK, a guarantor acts as a financial backup if the tenant fails to pay rent or causes damage. Guarantors must sign a legal agreement to cover the tenant’s debts. Guarantors are often required for students, low-income renters, or those with poor credit. If the tenant defaults, the landlord can demand payment from the guarantor. If you fail to rent a house in the UK by yourself, you can find a guarantor to help you with that.

Ways to Rent a Property

After you have prepared all the documents, you can then move on to find a property. Usually there are two ways tenants can find a property. One is directly renting a house from the landlord; the other is through a letting agent which is the choice of many tenants. However, either way, there are pros and cons, tenants need to make a judgement by themselves.

Directly From the Landlord

Pros:

Lower Costs: direct from the landlord may cost you less, there are no agent fees and tenants can also have possible rent negotiations with the landlord.

Flexible Terms: landlords may offer custom agreements

Faster Decisions: direct communication between landlords and tenants, when the house has some problems, tenants can receive faster fixes and approvals.

Cons:

Scam Risks: directly renting from a landlord may take the risk of scams, tenants may encounter fake listings or unregulated landlords.

Less Legal Protection: tenants may face more legal problems, because some landlords skip deposit protection schemes.

Inconsistent Service: repairs depend on the landlord’s responsiveness.

Through a Letting Agent

Pros:

Verified Listings: letting agent has professionally vetted properties, reducing the scam risks.

Professional Process: through a letting agent, the process is guaranteed, they handle contracts, deposits, and legal compliance legally.

Information Transparency: letting agents provide more transparency in information. Agents can share previous tenant, rental prices, maintenance records and reason for last tenant leaving if it’s relevant.

Cons:

Higher Costs: agents may charge service fees, other hidden fees.

Less Flexibility: renting through an agent requires tenants to follow more strict contracts.

Slower Response: repairs may take longer due to intermediaries.

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Property Viewing

Property viewing can be a very exciting activity, it’s also the final essential step for a tenant to make up mind to sign a contract, but many tenants have no idea how to view a property properly. Here, we have listed several key items for tenants to check their future houses better.

Exterior of Property: many people ignore checking a property’s exterior, which is very important. A well-maintained exterior of a property leaves a good impression on tenants and makes tenants feel the property is well taken care of, and the interior of the house is taken care as well.

Fixtures and Fittings: Don’t be afraid to check the lights, taps, cupboards and doors, heating and hot water, and electrics, as well as test the plug sockets and visible wiring issues. Make sure everything works as it should before you sign the contract.

Storage: check the house’s storage space.

Security: check the lock conditions of windows and doors, and smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detectors, etc.

Damp and Mould: Check ceilings, walls, and bathrooms, to see if these places have mould. This helps tenants know the interior conditions of this house.

Noise: assess noise levels from traffic, other properties inside, and outside the property you’re viewing.

Transportation: check the house’s geographical location, the surrounding subways, bus stations, etc.

Signal: signal is important, check your mobile phone signal, the phone’s reception in each room of the house.

Neighbourhoods: check the property’s neighbourhoods, the crime rates, local amenities, and community.

Signing the Contract

If you have made up your mind, this is the one. Congratulations, you are coming to the final step, signing the contract. Be aware of some traps when signing the contract.

Contract Check

You must double-check the contract even after you have viewed the house many times, except to check the basic information about rent amount, deposit, tenancy length, and break clause, you also need to double-check those legal documents including EPC, Gas Safety Certification, and deposit protection scheme details, and do not forget to keep a signed copy by yourself.

Rent Inclusion: bills, council tax, service charge.

Deposit Scheme: make sure those deposits in a government-protected scheme.

Hidden Fees: check if there are some hidden fees like administration, inventory, cleaning charges in the contract.

Break Clauses: check the break clauses, to see if you are flexible enough to leave early.

HMO: check the house you rent if it’s shared with unrelated tenants.

Gas Certification: make sure the certification is updated annually.

Landlord Check

Make sure you have checked the landlord’s information, landlords are obliged to provide you with information including name, and address. Another thing you need to know is whether the landlord is the owner or leaseholder of the house, and make sure the landlord owns the house legally. You have to ask for this information to prove the legality of the house if the landlord forgets to inform you of this information.

Red Flags

Tenants must be cautious when signing the contract, you have already gone through previous process, you don’t need to rush in the final step, if the landlord act strangely in the final step, you need to be cautious about signing the contract.

Refuses to Provide Paperwork: if the landlord refuses to provide the gas certification, deposit scheme details etc., you need to think twice before signing the contract.

Rush to Sign or Pay: if the landlord pushes tenants to sign the contract and pay the rent, it’s sceptical. Watch out for scams, be clear who you are handing money over to, and why.

Cash-only Payments: if the landlord want cash-only payments in the final step, that’s strange too, try to avoid unregulated deals.

Tenants Responsibilities

After renting your ideal house, tenants must also follow their corresponding responsibilities. Only when both sides follow the rules, can we have a better renting experience.

Pay the Rent on Time: try to pay the rent on time to make things easier, so the landlord won’t come to remind tenants to pay the rent, and tenants have fewer conflicts with landlords.

Pay Other Bills on Time: except for the rent, tenants must also pay other bills on time, such as council tax, gas, electricity and water bills.

Take Care of the House: once you rent the house, you need to take good care of it, avoiding purposely damaging its amenities.

Don’t Cause Neighbourhood Trouble: your living style should not affect the neighbourhood, try to maintain a good neighbourhood environment.

Sub-let is Prohibited: don’t take in a lodger or sub-let without your landlord’s permission.

FAQs:

Your ID, passport, driver’s license, payment stubs, employment references, and credit report are essential documents you need to rent a house in the UK.

You need documents including personal ID, or passport, driver’s license, payment stubs, employment references, credit report.

620-650, most landlords demand tenants have at least 620-650. Different landlords may have different preferences.

The general rule of thumb is the annual income should be 30 times the monthly rent if you are the one to pay the rent, there are no upper limits.

Yes, credit checks are a must-do step for landlords to check tenants’ rights and capability to afford a house.

If your proof of identity, income, and credit check can prove you can afford the house, then you don’t need a guarantor to rent, you can rent a house yourself.

If a tenant fails the credit check, they either try to improve their credit report, or find a guarantor with a good credit score and enough financial capability to help them rent a house.

In most cases, no, letting agents usually request proof of your income as a criterion for them to assess your financial capability to afford the house. Usually, if you can not provide your personal proof of income, you can also find a guarantor who can be your patents or related relatives to help you pay the bill, in this case, the guarantor’s proof of income is needed.

A poor credit report can make it hard to rent a house, landlords or letting agents don’t trust you, you may find a guarantor with a good credit report to back you up with the renting.

It depends on the agreement you sign, if the agreement prohibits tenants with a pet, then you are not allowed to rent with a pet, if the agreement and landlord allow your pet to live in the house, then, you can rent with a pet.

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