Rent to Own Applicant Criteria
Criteria updated October 2020
Before you apply it’s important that you check out our criteria and make sure that you meet it. Once you apply, the first stage of your application fee, £100, will be charged and is non-refundable.
Area | Criteria |
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Age | You must be over 18 to apply. |
Residency status | You must live in the UK. You may be asked to provide evidence that you have adequate right to reside in Northern Ireland. You have to live in the property as your only residence. |
Home owner | You can’t apply for Rent to Own if you currently own property which includes owning property or land, including commercial, or being named on any property in Northern Ireland or elsewhere. We may consider previous Co-Owners if you meet our qualifying criteria. Remember you must not be able to get a full mortgage or our shared ownership product, Co-Own, to be eligible for Rent to Own. |
Joint Applicants | If you are married, civil partners, or couples living together or intending to live together in your new home, then we would expect you to apply together. |
Outstanding property debt | You must not have any debt to any third party which was secured on a previous home. |
Previous relationships | You must have concluded any settlement arrangements from all previous relationships. |
Credit Assessment | When you apply to Rent to Own we will perform a full credit assessment to determine your affordability. Part of this assessment is to look at your credit file, not your score, using the Experian credit reference agency. We will look at your credit history which will include things like, if you have any credit cards or loans, the amounts of these, your repayments of these, and if you have any missed or late payments. Your credit history shows how you have managed your credit up to now and is taken into account as part of our decision. We recommend you get a copy of your credit report before applying and check it. Things that will affect your credit assessment include, but are not limited to:
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Credit Commitments | You must be able to service your current credit commitments as part of your outgoings, including your monthly rent. You will need a plan in place to reduce your household debt to a level whereby you will be able to get a mortgage or Co-Own by the end of your tenancy. |
Debt management | Before making an application to Rent to Own, any of the following arrangements must have been settled for the stated period:
The following arrangements also need to have been settled and will affect your credit assessment:
Just remember that you can have no adverse credit at the time of making a Rent to Own application. |
Managing your account | We will review 3 months bank statements as part of the application. If these show any unauthorised overdrafts, returned Direct Debits, or bank charges for unauthorised usage, you will not be eligible for Rent to Own. If you are heavily reliant on credit or an overdraft to pay your household costs and other outgoings, you may not be eligible for Rent to Own. |
Employment | The following types of employment are acceptable and you must be with your current employer for at least the following period before you apply as indicated below. You must not be under notice of termination of employment or redundancy.
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Income |
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Other income | If your monthly income is heavily reliant on benefits or other unearned income, we recommend that before you apply you speak with a financial adviser or lender as your type of income may impact your ability to get a mortgage when you take up the Option to Purchase. We will consider the following other income:
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Savings | You must provide evidence of any savings. |
Lifestyle, spending decisions | All applicants must prove they have been able to afford their current lifestyle. They must also prove they will be able to afford the commitment of renting their home through Rent to Own from their current disposable income. |
Change in circumstances | If your circumstances change during an application you must let us know about this. We will review your circumstances. This may result in your application being revised. |