“Do you need a good credit score to rent a house in the UK?”
The short answer is no. Whilst some landlords will perform a credit check, many don’t. That said, if you’re worried about renting a house with bad credit, let us tell you that there is no perfect credit score to rent a house.
Although a poor credit score may pose extra challenges in some cases, it shouldn’t prevent you from renting a house.
However, regardless of what your credit score is, working towards improving it is a great idea that can impact many aspects of your life. That’s why, in this article, we’re here to discuss credit scores, renting a house and a few tips to achieve your credit score goal.
Let’s get started
What is the Ideal Credit Score to Rent a House?
For starters, there is no “ideal” credit score to rent a house in the UK. However, some landlords may perform a soft check on your credit score if they feel the need to. In an ever more competitive renting landscape, this is becoming increasingly common. In such cases, a good credit score will make you a more attractive tenant to landlords.
In the UK, credit scores are provided by agencies like Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. These scores are categorised into poor, fair, good and excellent, based on the various affecting factors of a person’s credit history.
The best score to have would be excellent. However, a good score is usually enough for most financial situations, get personal loans and easily rent a house. This usually means a score that ranges between 700 to 999, depending on the credit bureau.
How to Achieve and Maintain a Good Credit Score
Regularly Check Your Credit Report
One of the first steps to improving your credit score is to track it and understand what affects it. This allows you to see exactly what your potential landlord might see and also gives you the chance to spot any errors in reporting.
Errors and inaccuracies are common in credit reporting and can significantly impact your credit score. This is one of the main reasons we at Salad Money don’t think the credit score system is fair or representative! However, it's crucial to dispute these issues and get them corrected as soon as possible.
Manage Your Debt Efficiently
If you currently have a lot of debt, it can affect your credit score, both positively and negatively. Keeping on top of your debt and repayments on time will typically improve it, whilst taking more debt than you can manage and getting behind on repayments will typically reduce your credit score. This makes it important to manage your debt efficiently, and aim to keep your credit utilisation below 30%.
To do so, start actively paying down existing debt, avoid new debt where possible and keep on top of your regular payments. This indicates through your credit score that you are a responsible borrower and pay your bills on time.
Ensure Timely Bill Payments
Paying all your bills on time is another factor that helps improve your credit score. By setting up automatic payments and reminders, you need to ensure that you are always paying your bills on time. This consistent practice can have a strong positive impact on your credit score over time.
Limit Credit Inquiries
Every time you apply for a loan with a traditional lender, it results in a hard inquiry on your credit report. This can negatively impact your credit score, especially if there are too many inquiries in a short period of time.
That’s why, you need to try to limit the number of credit applications you make and only apply for a new credit if you absolutely need it.
Choose Salad Money for Fair and Affordable Personal Loans
As we’ve seen, while you may not need a perfect credit score to rent a house, it’s never a bad thing to maintain a good credit score. With the tips mentioned above, you can work on improving your credit score and to make renting easier.
However, at Salad Money, we realise that not everyone has the same financial battles in life. We also believe that a credit score is not the best way to analyse a person’s creditworthiness and loan affordability.
That’s why, we bring you our “More Than Your Score loans,” specially designed to help you cover any emergency expenses regardless of a low credit score.
Our fair and affordable personal loans are created for working professionals struggling to get a loan from traditional lenders. With a unique, more accurate assessment system, we can easily analyse your loan affordability without the help of your credit score.
What’s more, we are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which means you can rest assured that your finances are in safe hands.
To learn more about our personal loans, click here and to read more blogs like this one, visit our blog page now!
