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Picking the right tenants to rent a home is much easier for landlords with a screening process.
Landlords want tenants who pay the rent on time and look after their homes. Once a landlord has a system for screening tenants, choosing a tenant becomes a streamlined and more sophisticated job, rather than sifting through endless emails and texts hoping for inspiration.
Instead, your prospective tenant interviews follow a template and applicants are scored against each other rather than on a hit-and-miss basis.
But how do you start the screening process?
Having a screening process means having a written procedure for accepting tenancy applications.
The process starts with a standard application form that each tenant completes. The form collects information such as a tenant’s name, address, age, employment status, and income.
Don’t forget that landlords must not discriminate against tenants on the basis of protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. These are:
The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 also prohibits rental discrimination on the basis that a person has children or receives benefits, including housing benefit or Universal Credit. Landlords and letting agents must not refuse to rent, charge more, impose different terms or otherwise treat someone less favourably for those reasons. The same applies where the decision is based on a belief that someone has children or receives benefits. Affordability checks are still allowed, but all lawful income, including benefits and pension income, must be treated equally.
Landlords should have a written policy for onboarding tenants, so each tenant and application is treated the same.
The first step is designing an application form. The form should include:
Information collected about children must only be used for legitimate purposes, such as identifying the household and assessing space or HMO suitability. It must not be used to refuse the tenancy or impose worse terms because the applicant has children.
The form needs to include a section that permits gathering references. The application form should also cover questions like whether applicants smoke or have pets.
Some landlords rely on reference checks to help select new tenants, and others don’t bother.
You will need an assessment check (similar to a credit check) if you intend to take out rent guarantee insurance, as the providers are unlikely to accept tenants after they have moved into a home.
A credit check is the most helpful reference as it shows if the tenant pays their bills on time and if they have any defaults or court judgments. After all, the likelihood is they will not pay the rent if they fail to keep up with credit cards or loan repayments.
Not all bad credit is a black mark. Some people have bad luck, like redundancy or severe illness, that can wreck their finances. Landlords should look for a regular history of missed payments on credit checks.
Contacting a current landlord for a reference is generally a waste of time. If the tenant has rent arrears or is being evicted, the landlord probably won’t give an honest reference in the hope they will go quicker, and if they do provide a reference, you won’t be any the wiser about their conduct.
It’s always good to meet prospective tenants, which is often accomplished at viewings. This allows landlords to gain a personal impression and lets them go over the terms and conditions of the rental.
Once you have gathered your information, carried out the job and financial checks and provided a draft tenancy agreement, you must choose which tenant to go with. At least your application form allows you to weed out anyone unsuitable along the way.
In England, the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 prohibits rental bidding. Written adverts and offers must state a specific asking rent, and landlords and letting agents must not invite, encourage or accept offers above that advertised rent. When choosing between applicants, decide on affordability, references and the standard application form, not on who is willing to pay above the asking price.
Wales is not covered by this Renters’ Rights Act 2025 rule, but landlords letting in Wales should still set the rent transparently and select applicants on lawful, consistent criteria.
Asking for a holding deposit to reserve a property is still allowed under the Tenant Fees Act, but with some limits.
A holding deposit is a refundable payment that should only be taken from one prospective renter at a time and is held whilst references are carried out, and the details of the let are agreed upon between the landlord and tenant.
The terms cover:
The Tenant Fees Act restricts the holding deposit to one week’s rent, calculated as the total annual rent divided by 52. So, the holding deposit for a £950 a month rent is £950 x 12 divided by 52, which is £219.
We would generally advise rounding down for safety (to avoid arguing whether it is one week), so in this example, you might round down to £200. If the tenancy goes ahead, the deposit is generally credited against the first month’s rent or any security deposit.
The deposit must be repaid within seven days if the landlord withdraws from the deal. Landlords can keep the holding deposit if the tenant does not move in because:
Several formulas can help landlords check rent affordability for tenants. Try this formula: Monthly rent x 35 = Total household income needed. So, taking a monthly rent of £950, the total household income should be at least £33,250 per annum. Some landlords and referencing agencies might use a multiple of 30 or somewhere in between.
As your tenant application form includes questions about gross annual household income, you should find this check an easy way to sort applicants who cannot afford the property from the rest.
Affordability checks remain allowed under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, but landlords and agents must treat all lawful income equally. Benefit income, including the Universal Credit housing element and Local Housing Allowance, and pension income must be counted on the same basis as wages. A blanket “no benefits” or “no DSS” policy, or applying a higher income multiple to applicants on benefits, is unlawful.
Housing charity Shelter suggests that annual rent that is 35 per cent of gross annual household income is putting tenants in financial difficulties.