Before May 2026, a landlord unsure about an applicant had blunt instruments: take six months up front, or rely on the fixed term and Section 21 to exit a mistake. Both are gone. Rent in advance is capped at one month, and ending a tenancy now requires a ground you can prove. The consequence is simple: tenant selection is now the highest-stakes decision in the whole tenancy — and referencing has to carry the weight the old instruments used to.
Guidance, not legal advice. Discrimination law applies to every selection decision — the practices below are about financial and evidential rigour, applied identically to every applicant.
What proper referencing looks like now
Treat referencing as building the file you would want if the tenancy later went wrong:
- Identity and right to rent — checked before move-in, with dated copies kept. This is a legal requirement in England, not a preference.
- Income verification — payslips or accounts plus an employer reference. The common affordability yardstick is rent at or below ~35–40% of gross income; whatever standard you use, apply it consistently and record the numbers.
- Credit check — through a reputable referencing provider. You're looking for CCJs, insolvency, and patterns — not perfection.
- Previous landlord reference — the most predictive item in the file, and the least faked when you call rather than email. Ask the one question that matters: would you let to them again?
- Keep everything. The application, the checks, the references. Ground 17 (tenancy obtained by false statement) only works if you can show what was claimed at the time.
When a guarantor is the answer
With multi-month advance payments off the table, the guarantor is now the standard route for applicants who are promising but thin on paper — students, new arrivals to the UK, the newly self-employed, career changers.
Make the guarantee worth having:
- Reference the guarantor like a tenant — identity, income, credit. A guarantor who couldn't pay adds paperwork, not security.
- Use a properly drafted deed covering the obligations guaranteed and — critically — how it operates now tenancies are periodic. Wording written for a "12-month term" needs updating for open-ended tenancies; take advice on your template once and reuse it.
- Keep the guarantor informed. If arrears start, tell the guarantor early and in writing — both because the deed may require it and because early pressure works.
What you can no longer do
| Old habit | Status now |
|---|---|
| "Six months up front and we're fine" | Capped — one month's rent in advance maximum |
| Rely on the fixed term to exit a mistake | Fixed terms gone — possession needs a proven ground |
| Let applicants outbid each other | Banned — the advertised rent is the maximum |
| Blanket "no pets" as a filter | Statutory right to request; refusals must be reasonable |
| Casual referencing, fix it later | "Later" is now a courtroom with your file as the exhibit |
The mindset shift
Under the old regime, referencing prevented hassle. Under the new one, it prevents loss: a mistaken letting can now only be unwound through a ground, its notice period, and a possession hearing — months, at best, with the arrears threshold at three months before the mandatory ground even arms. An extra week spent verifying an applicant is the cheapest insurance the new system sells.
HomeDash keeps the tenancy file — references, right-to-rent records, agreements, rent ledger — attached to the tenancy itself, so the evidence you might need in year two is where you left it in week one.
Sources
Change log: 20 Aug 2026 — first published.
