4 ms·

Where I live, most property agents will do a credit and income check, and would turn you away for not meeting the "minimum income level" for renting those place

Where I live, most property agents will do a credit and income check, and would turn you away for not meeting the "minimum income level" for renting those places. Even if you feel you can afford spending 50% of your income, it doesn't follow that you can easily find a landlord who allows it. If you have a bad credit rating, as many people do these days, it will be even more difficult as more landlords check that than income. In my case, where I am currently living, I had insufficient income at the time I moved in to qualify, and was only allowed to rent on the condition that I paid 12 months rent up front. And then I had to do it again the following year. Obviously that's only available to people with decent savings.

treis 6y ago
> Where I live, most property agents will do a credit and income check, and would turn you away for not meeting the "minimum income level" for renting those places. This is where room in a shared house comes into play. They're available for $4-500 a month in my city.
- jlokier 6y ago
  Where I live, there's a minimum income level for shared house rooms as well, and the cost of a room can be 50% of someone's income if they are working but poorly paid, so they won't be allowed it. Luckily rooms are more likely to be rented somewhat informally, or by less stringent agents & landlords, compared with flats, so there's a decent market of these without a hard income requirement, alongside those with the requirement.
iso1631 6y ago
But that's no different to 2003 (you could have a guarantor - typically a parent - who would be on the hook for your rent if you didn't pay it) Before I started looking I was under the impression things were harder now then they were in 2003, but it seems not, at least in this one case (tiny studio/bedsits in a dodgy part of west london) -- unless asking prices on rent are massively depressed due to covid. In 2006/7 I lived in Tunbridge wells, paying £800pcm for a 2 bed flat that looked almost identical to this one, although it was in the next door house and had a garage instead of a parking spot. https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/84635425#/ https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/84635425#/ £800 in 2007 is £1,117.29 today, so a near identical flat for £900 is an interesting price point.
- user5994461 6y ago
  Go check again, you got everything wrong. ^^ That flat is southeast England in the middle of nowhere. Not london, not greater london by any metric, it's nowhere.
  - iso1631 6y ago
    That's a second example, literally next door to the flat I rented in 2007 in Tunbridge Wells for £800pcm
    - user5994461 6y ago
      You said you were in London though, this is not London, this is countryside in the middle of nowhere. Properties have increased significantly in cities but not in the desolated countryside. No argument there.
- jlokier 6y ago
  Things seem to have become more difficult to obtain in some cases. Back in 2003, nobody asked me for proof of income for renting. Just basic credit checks (which don't directly know about income or bank balances). Proof of income is more recent. (And difficult if you're self-employed with highly irregular income, I found.) If using a guarantor, a guarantor has to pass similar checks. Guarantor works a lot better for a young person starting out in a cheap-ass room in a shared place, whose parents expect this. For a flat and an older adult with retired parents on a low pension, or their own housing costs, not so much. Good like finding a guarantor if your parents or friends: - don't have enough spare income to cover your rent in addition to their own expenses - don't pass the credit check themselves - can't pass the proof-of-income check themselves - don't have enough assets to use as security - are not happy using their assets as security for you (e.g. their limited life savings or their one and only home) Some people don't have parents, and these days, quite a lot of parents rent precariously too. They would be turned down as guarantors. More parents renting is a factor which has changed in recent years. I imagine most people don't have friends who would be willing to be long term rent guarantors, even if they could be.

treis 6y ago

> Where I live, most property agents will do a credit and income check, and would turn you away for not meeting the "minimum income level" for renting those places. This is where room in a shared house comes into play. They're available for $4-500 a month in my city.

jlokier 6y ago
Where I live, there's a minimum income level for shared house rooms as well, and the cost of a room can be 50% of someone's income if they are working but poorly paid, so they won't be allowed it. Luckily rooms are more likely to be rented somewhat informally, or by less stringent agents & landlords, compared with flats, so there's a decent market of these without a hard income requirement, alongside those with the requirement.

iso1631 6y ago

But that's no different to 2003 (you could have a guarantor - typically a parent - who would be on the hook for your rent if you didn't pay it) Before I started looking I was under the impression things were harder now then they were in 2003, but it seems not, at least in this one case (tiny studio/bedsits in a dodgy part of west london) -- unless asking prices on rent are massively depressed due to covid. In 2006/7 I lived in Tunbridge wells, paying £800pcm for a 2 bed flat that looked almost identical to this one, although it was in the next door house and had a garage instead of a parking spot. https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/84635425#/ https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/84635425#/ £800 in 2007 is £1,117.29 today, so a near identical flat for £900 is an interesting price point.

user5994461 6y ago
Go check again, you got everything wrong. ^^ That flat is southeast England in the middle of nowhere. Not london, not greater london by any metric, it's nowhere.
- iso1631 6y ago
  That's a second example, literally next door to the flat I rented in 2007 in Tunbridge Wells for £800pcm
  - user5994461 6y ago
    You said you were in London though, this is not London, this is countryside in the middle of nowhere. Properties have increased significantly in cities but not in the desolated countryside. No argument there.
jlokier 6y ago
Things seem to have become more difficult to obtain in some cases. Back in 2003, nobody asked me for proof of income for renting. Just basic credit checks (which don't directly know about income or bank balances). Proof of income is more recent. (And difficult if you're self-employed with highly irregular income, I found.) If using a guarantor, a guarantor has to pass similar checks. Guarantor works a lot better for a young person starting out in a cheap-ass room in a shared place, whose parents expect this. For a flat and an older adult with retired parents on a low pension, or their own housing costs, not so much. Good like finding a guarantor if your parents or friends: - don't have enough spare income to cover your rent in addition to their own expenses - don't pass the credit check themselves - can't pass the proof-of-income check themselves - don't have enough assets to use as security - are not happy using their assets as security for you (e.g. their limited life savings or their one and only home) Some people don't have parents, and these days, quite a lot of parents rent precariously too. They would be turned down as guarantors. More parents renting is a factor which has changed in recent years. I imagine most people don't have friends who would be willing to be long term rent guarantors, even if they could be.