The one decision Section 21 made too important to get wrong

A qualified credit risk analyst who assesses affordability and default risk for a living. You get an expert human read, not an automated pass/fail.

Not by forensics, and we won't claim otherwise — we don't run document-verification technology. What we do is read the whole file together, and that is where forged paperwork tends to fail. It matters more than it used to: Cifas recorded a 263% rise in tenant referencing fraud filings in a year, driven by false and altered documents and AI-generated forgeries (Fraudscape 2026). The same report found industry-standard automated checks flagged only 26% of AI-generated IDs — so “the system checked it” is worth less than it sounds. A generated payslip can look flawless on its own; it is much harder to make it agree with the bank statements, the employment history and the applicant's own account of themselves.

A standard reference is a pass/fail plus a crude rent-to-income multiple. This is a proper affordability and risk assessment: we read the income the way a lender would, weigh the references you hold, and tell you what the real risk is. Many landlords buy this alongside a credit-backed reference, not instead of one.

No. This is an independent affordability and risk assessment based on the documents and references you provide. If you also want a credit-backed search through a regulated agency, our separate Referencing product does exactly that, and you can use both together.

£79 for the standard Tenant Risk Report, or £149 for the in-depth version that also gives a full financial profile and a proper assessment of the guarantor. One-off, no VAT, no subscription.

Whatever you have: payslips, bank statements, an employment contract or reference, a previous landlord reference, ID. The more you can send, the sharper the read. We email you a secure request once you order, and we work with what you've got rather than sending you on a paperwork chase.

Yes, and it's one of the most common reasons landlords come to us. Self-employed income puts a lot of people off tenants who would have been perfectly fine. We read the accounts and bank statements and tell you what they can realistically sustain, instead of you having to guess.

Both are lettable, they just need reading properly. For a student we look at the guarantor and any funding behind them; for someone on benefits or mixed income we look at what's stable and what the rent actually leaves them. A blanket 'no' costs you good tenants, so we give you the real picture instead.

Usually a couple of working days from the point we have your documents. If you're up against a deadline, tell us when you order and we'll do our best to turn it round quicker.

Low, medium or high, with the reasons written out plainly, plus a recommendation: accept, accept with conditions such as a guarantor or rent in advance, or decline. It's meant to be acted on, not filed away.

Often, yes. A pass just means they cleared a threshold. It doesn't tell you how much headroom they have, or what to do if it's tight. If you're letting for a year or more to someone you now can't easily remove, a second, expert opinion is cheap insurance.

Everywhere in England. This is a remote, document-based service, so where your property is makes no difference.

No. The final decision is always yours. We give you a clear, evidenced view of the risk so you can make it with your eyes open.

The reliable signals are documentary rather than personal. Payslips that do not reconcile with the bank statements. A deposit or first month's rent offered from an account in someone else's name with no explanation. Reluctance to give a current landlord as a referee, or a referee whose contact details turn out to be a mobile number and a generic email. Gaps in the address history. Pressure to move in quickly, before checks complete. None of these is proof of anything on its own, and plenty of honest applicants have an untidy file — but two or three together is the pattern our analyst is trained to see, and it is the point at which a second look is worth £79.

You cross-check, and you look at the bank statements rather than the payslip. A forged payslip is easy to produce; a forged three-month bank statement that also reconciles with the stated employer, the stated salary, the tax and National Insurance deductions and the applicant's actual spending is much harder. The tells are usually arithmetic: net pay that does not match the deductions shown, round-number credits, a salary that appears on a different date each month, or a payslip from an employer whose company record does not support the wage bill. This is ordinary credit-analysis work, and it is what the report is for.

Four, and they are separate things. Right to Rent, which is a legal duty and covers every adult occupier aged 18 or over, usually now evidenced through the Home Office online service with a share code. Affordability, conventionally annual income of at least 30 times the monthly rent. Credit, for CCJs, bankruptcies and IVAs. And a previous landlord reference on payment history and condition. Passing one says nothing about the others — a Right to Rent check is not a referencing check, and an applicant can clear a credit search and still be unaffordable.

No. Blanket bans on prospective tenants who receive benefits, or who have children, are unlawful in England — in the advert and in the decision behind it. "No DSS", "no children" and "professionals only" are out, and so are the softer phrasings that mean the same thing. What you may still do is assess affordability on the individual applicant's actual income and circumstances, whatever the source of that income. The distinction is between judging the person in front of you and applying a rule to a category of people before you have looked at them. A benefits recipient with a guarantor and a clean payment history is an applicant like any other.

A fail is information, not a verdict, and there are four routes. Take a guarantor, referenced to the same standard and typically expected to earn around three times the annual rent. Buy rent guarantee insurance, remembering that cover requires a qualifying reference obtained before the tenancy starts. Ask for a larger deposit, within the statutory cap of five weeks' rent (six where the annual rent is £50,000 or more). Or decline. What you can no longer do is take six or twelve months' rent up front to cover the risk — the Renters' Rights Act restricted that, which is precisely why the quality of the assessment now matters more than it did.

To the same standard as the tenant, which landlords routinely skip. A guarantor needs their own income evidence, their own credit check and, ideally, UK homeownership, because a guarantee is only worth what the guarantor can actually be pursued for. Two practical points. Say explicitly in the deed whether they are guaranteeing the whole rent or only one sharer's share — on a joint tenancy it is usually the whole rent, and parents are frequently surprised by that. And have the deed properly executed; an informal email promise is very difficult to enforce when you need it.

Yes. Ordering and payment happen from your free account, so your report and applicant details stay in one place. Signing up is free and takes a minute.