Tenant credit checks and your credit file

When you apply to rent a home, the landlord or letting agent will usually check two things about you: whether you are a reliable tenant and whether you can afford the rent. They must also check your immigration status before the tenancy starts¹. The credit check itself is limited: landlords and agents can only do a "soft search" of your credit record, which does not affect your credit score and only shows information that is already public, such as a county court judgment (CCJ), an individual voluntary arrangement (IVA) or bankruptcy¹.

Two rules protect you throughout the process. First, a landlord or agent can only run a credit check with your permission, and they cannot charge you for it². Second, it is against the law for them to refuse to rent to you simply because you claim benefits, and they must include benefits as income when they work out what you can afford³.

What a landlord or letting agent checks when you apply to rent

Landlords and letting agents usually check that you are a reliable tenant and that you can afford the rent, and they must also check your immigration status before renting to you¹. The checks together are often called tenant referencing, and they can involve several separate parts.

A typical application involves:

• Identity: in Scotland, a landlord can ask for a copy of your passport or driving licence to prove who you are⁴
• Income and affordability: an employment contract or letter from your employer, recent payslips or bank statements, and proof of any benefits¹
• References: landlords or agents might ask for references from a current or previous landlord, or from your employer¹
• Credit check: a soft search of your credit record, only with your permission²
• Immigration status: a right to rent check before the tenancy starts¹

Not every landlord runs a credit check. Some landlords and rental companies do credit checks and may not rent to you if you have bad credit⁵, but landlords who do not use letting agents are less likely to carry out credit checks at all⁶. Landlords who do not use an agent may rely instead on references and proof of income.

You can prepare for these checks before you start looking. You can check your credit score for free online before you look for a property to rent², and the guide to checking your credit report for free explains how to do it with each of the credit reference agencies. If something on your report is wrong, the page on correcting your credit report explains how to get it fixed before a landlord sees it.

Your permission comes first: no credit check without consent

A landlord or letting agent can only do a credit check if you agree to it². In Scotland the rule is stated more strongly still: a landlord can only check your credit rating if you give them written permission⁴. The same applies to the cost: they need your permission for the check and you cannot be charged for it³.

The position under data protection law is worth understanding, because it is slightly different from what most people assume. The Information Commissioner's Office explains that data protection law does not actually require organisations to have gained your consent before they can carry out a search of your credit file, as long as they have another lawful basis for doing so and you have been told that the search is going to take place⁷. In practice, for a landlord's credit check, your agreement is still what opens the door: landlords can only access your credit file with your consent⁸.

This distinction matters if you are ever unsure whether a search was legitimate. The questions to ask are whether you were told the search would happen and whether the organisation had a proper basis for it. If you want to see what searches have been made, your credit report lists them, and the page on who can see your credit report explains what appears and to whom.

Tenant credit checks are soft searches

Landlords and agents can only do a "soft search" of your credit record³. This is the key fact for anyone worried that applying for a rental will damage their credit history: a soft search is not a full credit application, and a credit check by a landlord or agent does not affect your credit score¹.

A soft search also shows less than many people fear. Because it only returns information that is already public, a landlord sees things like CCJs, an IVA or bankruptcy, but not the detail of your credit accounts¹. Credit searches do not show if you have missed rent payments in the past, though some landlords might check on landlord referencing websites, which work separately from credit reference agencies¹.

There is no minimum credit score for private renting². That is worth repeating, because it is a common worry: no published threshold stands between you and a tenancy. Each landlord or agent decides for themselves what they will accept, based on what the soft search shows and on the rest of your application.

The difference between soft and hard searches matters elsewhere in your financial life, because a hard search, the kind made when you apply for credit, is recorded on your file and can affect how later lenders view you. The guide to hard and soft credit searches explains the difference in full, and the page on rent payments and your credit file covers how rent can be reported if you choose to have it counted.

Affordability: how your income and credit score are judged

Most landlords and letting agents will check what they think you can afford by looking at your income and credit score². The affordability part of the process is about your budget as a whole, not just the rent. An affordability check usually starts by asking about your household budget, your income, your regular bills and your spending needs, and then includes a check of your credit file for details of your debts⁹.

Landlords often ask to see bank statements or proof of income². The evidence they might request includes an employment contract or a letter from your employer, recent payslips or bank statements, and proof of benefits¹. In Scotland, a landlord can ask for copies of payslips or bank statements to prove you can afford the rent, and contact details for previous landlords for a reference⁴.

Two rules shape how this is done:

• Landlords and agents must include benefits as income when they check if you can afford the property¹⁰. Benefits count towards affordability, they are not a reason to exclude you from it.
• Provided you can afford the rent, landlords cannot discriminate against you for receiving benefits¹¹.

If you are on a debt solution such as a debt management plan, landlords get a limited view of your credit score and your debt solution on a public register⁵. The page on debt solutions and your credit file explains what each solution shows and for how long. A bad credit rating can affect your ability to rent a home, just as it can affect getting a mobile phone contract or anything else that requires a credit check¹², but a limited view is not the same as an automatic refusal, and there is no pass mark to miss.

If you fail the checks: guarantors, rent in advance and other proof

Failing an income, credit or reference check does not end the application. If you fail one of these checks, you could offer to provide a guarantor¹. A guarantor is someone who agrees to pay the rent if you do not, and the landlord or agent usually checks your guarantor's income and credit history¹³, including whether the guarantor can afford to pay your rent³. A guarantor might have to pass a credit check and give information about their finances⁶.

There are limits on what can be charged around a guarantor: your landlord or agent cannot charge extra fees if you need a guarantor, for example for checks or a guarantor agreement¹³. Guarantor agreements can carry obligations that reach further than people expect. Sometimes guarantor agreements say that you can be asked to pay money if any of the joint tenants do not pay their rent, not just the tenant you guarantee¹³. And being a guarantor has its own credit consequences: as long as the borrower pays back the debt on time, being a guarantor will not affect your credit rating, but payments made on their behalf are added to your credit history and could reduce your credit score¹⁴.

Beyond a guarantor, there are other ways to strengthen a weak application. If a landlord is hesitant, you could ask whether they will accept a rent guarantor or take extra rent payments in advance¹⁵. Your chances of being approved for a rental property may increase if you offer a higher security deposit, offer to pay more regular fees up front, give a budget showing you can afford the rent, show proof that your income is safe, or use a guarantor⁵.

Rent in advance has its own rules. You can choose to pay more than the standard amount, but your landlord or agent cannot insist on it¹⁶. The rules on rent in advance are intended to stop "rent bidding", where agents encourage private renters to offer more than the advertised rent¹⁶. The page on renting with a poor credit history goes further into what helps when your file has problems, and the guide to rebuilding your credit after debt problems covers the longer term.

Right to rent: immigration checks before a tenancy starts

Landlords and agents must check your immigration status before they rent to you¹. In England, landlords must check that all people aged 18 or over living in their property have the right to rent¹⁷. This is a legal duty on the landlord, not a discretionary check, and it applies to adults in the household, not just the named tenants.

There is one recent easing of the rules for some people. For holders of pre-settled status, employers, landlords and letting agents will only be required to carry out one initial check and will no longer be required to conduct a further right to work or rent check where the individual remains in their employment or as part of that tenancy agreement¹⁸. In practice, that means one check at the start rather than repeated checks as status is renewed.

The right to rent check is separate from the credit check and the affordability assessment, and it is not something you can opt out of or substitute with other evidence. It sits alongside the referencing process as a condition the landlord must satisfy before the tenancy can lawfully begin.

Checks must be free: letting agents cannot charge for them

Landlords and letting agents cannot charge you for credit checks or other reference checks². Agents cannot charge you for viewings, checks or tenancy agreements³. Landlords and agents cannot charge fees for these checks¹. The rule is consistent across the sources and it is absolute for the tenant.

In Scotland the rule is stated in terms of recovery as well as prohibition: landlords should not charge a fee for doing a credit check for you or your guarantor, and these are illegal fees that you can claim back⁴. You also cannot be charged fees for inspections or inventories¹⁹.

The Tenant Fees Act 2019 sets the framework in England, and it has exclusions worth knowing. The act does not apply to social housing assured tenancies, shared ownership leases, short term holiday lets, excluded licenses, or properties with an annual rent of more than £100,000²⁰. Where a permitted change to the tenancy does justify a fee, if the costs are higher the landlord should give evidence to a tenant that any fee charged above £50 is reasonable²⁰.

If you are charged for a check, the route to redress is your local council, which can investigate prohibited payments and can help you get the money back, and can also make your landlord pay a fine²¹. The narrow guide to charges for tenant reference and credit checks covers the detail of what has been charged and how to recover it.

Where a landlord cannot refuse you: discrimination and benefits

It is against the law for landlords and agents to say they will not rent to you because you claim benefits³. Letting agents and landlords should not refuse to rent to you because you claim benefits¹, and provided you can afford the rent, landlords cannot discriminate against you for receiving benefits¹¹.

This is not only a matter of benefits. It is against the law to discriminate because of race, ethnicity or nationality¹. More widely, it is unlawful discrimination for a landlord to end a tenancy based on protected characteristics, which include disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation²². Refusing to rent to people who get benefits also indirectly discriminates against women and disabled people, who are more likely to get housing-related benefits²³.

The law has moved against the old "no DSS" practice in several ways at once:

• Terms in mortgage agreements or insurance which prevent landlords renting to people who get benefits are no longer permitted²³
• The Renters' Rights Act makes it illegal for a private landlord in England to discriminate against you because you claim benefits or because you have children who live with or visit you²⁴
• Landlords and agents must include benefits as income when they check affordability¹⁰

There is a boundary to this protection. Landlords or agents can refuse to rent a place that is not suitable, for example if you cannot afford it¹⁰. The refusal has to be about the property and your ability to pay, not about the source of your income. If you think you have been refused because of benefits, the guide to challenging DSS discrimination explains how to complain and what evidence helps¹⁰, and the page on benefits and your credit file covers a related worry: whether claiming Universal Credit itself affects your score.

Rent bidding is banned for private lets

Rental bidding is now illegal²⁵. Landlords and letting agents are banned from encouraging or allowing rent bidding²⁵, which means they must show the rent amount and must not invite or accept offers over it²⁴. Since 1 May 2026, properties cannot be let above the advertised price, a change intended to ban the practice of rental bidding¹⁷.

The rule on the advertised rent is stated plainly in official guidance: the rent must not be more than the advertised amount, and your landlord must clearly explain to you what is included when agreeing to rent the property²¹. The landlord or agent cannot ask for or accept more²⁵.

Rent in advance sits next to this rule but is not the same thing. You can choose to pay more rent in advance than the standard amount, but the landlord or agent cannot insist on it¹⁶. The purpose of the rules is to stop rent bidding, where agents encourage private renters to offer more than the advertised rent¹⁶. So a voluntary offer of advance rent remains possible, while a demand or a bidding process does not.

One related prohibition is worth knowing: your landlord is not allowed to make you pay for a loan, pay for insurance or start a contract for a service as part of your tenancy²¹. If a landlord or agent tries to build extra costs into the application in any of these ways, the same enforcement route through the local council applies²¹.

Getting help if a landlord treats you unfairly

If you have been charged a fee that should have been free, contact your local council. The council can investigate prohibited payments, can help you get the money back, and can also make your landlord pay a fine²¹.

If you believe you have been refused a tenancy because you claim benefits, or because of a protected characteristic such as disability, race or sex, you can challenge the decision. Shelter's guidance on challenging DSS discrimination sets out how to complain and what to gather¹⁰, and the same protection applies to refusals based on the other protected characteristics²².

For problems paying rent once you are in a tenancy, free and impartial help is available. MoneyHelper provides guidance on rent arrears and problems paying your rent¹¹, and Business Debt Line notes that from 1 May 2026, if you are a private tenant and any rent arrears are caused by delays paying the housing costs element of Universal Credit, those arrears will be ignored when deciding the rent arrears level²⁵. Scope also has guidance on how to afford rent if you are disabled, including the evidence needed when applying for financial support, which can include payslips and bank or building society statements²⁶.

If the problem is with credit rather than the tenancy itself, the Financial Ombudsman Service can look at complaints of unaffordable or irresponsible lending, which usually means examining whether a lender completed reasonable and proportionate checks before you took out the loan, or whether it has treated you unreasonably or unfairly in some way²⁷. That is a route against a lender, not against a landlord, but it matters if the debt that is now damaging your applications was lent irresponsibly in the first place. The page on what to do if you are refused credit covers the immediate steps after a refusal, and the guide to how lenders decide explains the checks behind that decision.