Rental Affordability - Top Tips & Calculator

We have developed our own affordability calculator which you can find below, although it’s important to note that when renting a home, there’s more to consider than just being able to pay the rent. Here are some tips from our rental team to consider for when renting a property:

Budget for your additional costs

As we said above, renting a property is much more than the monthly rent and you’ll need to consider your additional expenses realistically, such as:

• Food/clothes
• Loans or credit card repayments
• Insurance
• Phone bills
• Savings
• Leisure (gym/hobbies/nights out)
• Childcare/maintenance
• Council tax
• Utility bills (electricity, gas, water, etc.)

If you’re not sure, always overestimate. You don’t want to risk missing your monthly payments as you’ll soon reduce your credit rating – this brings us on to the next point.

Check your credit rating

Your credit rating is an important factor most letting agents take into consideration when renting a property to prospective tenants. If it has a low rating then there’s a chance you won’t be accepted for a property as it suggests missed payments. You can check this using Equifax’s credit report which is free for a trial period. It’s important to know this because you may lose your application fee if you don’t get accepted for a property.

Don’t forget the upfront costs

Most agencies will ask for upfront fees. We ask for:

• An application fee – this covers all referencing checks and administration including all legal paperwork and costs £360 inc VAT (for 2 adults)*.
• Deposit – This is a month and half of rent and will be returned to you at the end of the tenancy subject to a final inspection.

Have a guarantor ready if possible

A guarantor is a person (preferably a family member) who is willing to step in if you aren’t able to make your monthly rent payment. This isn’t required although, under certain circumstances, such as not having the recommend income or a less than ideal credit rating, it may be required. So it’s important to consider all of the above and have a guarantor ready if you feel it’s necessary. Remember, rental properties do go incredibly quickly so having all of the correct information readily available will help you find a property much quicker.

* this is up-to-date as of December 2016