Tenant Referencing

Hands-on approach Although many agents do outsource their tenant referencing service to a third-party, there are others who prefer to keep the work in-house. “We have so far avoided the temptation to outsource referencing and continue to undertake the task ourselves,” said Mark Sandall of Andrew Granger & Co. “This means we are able to monitor the situation more closely and build up a better relationship with the applicant. We can also see how the applicants conduct themselves through the referencing process to ensure they are suitable.” Charlotte Baker of Belvoir in Melton Mowbray concurred. “We do our referencing in-house as we see it as an opportunity to really assess the tenant. We find it more revealing than a ‘yes or no’ from a referencing company, although we do use Experian for the credit check.” Rent guarantee For many landlords, their biggest fear is not being paid rent. Yet, despite the recovering economy, Shelter is warning that over 215,000 homes in England are at risk of eviction or repossession, equating to 4,140 households under threat every week, mainly because tenants are struggling to pay their rent, reinforcing the need for tenant reference checks. “We also perform our own internet search…