Tenant Referencing

Secure the best tenants for your property with Mashroom's professional referencing. Enjoy greater peace of mind and get an in-depth overview of prospective tenants and their guarantors. Receive information on their identity, credit history, CCJs and right to rent status

Only £15 per Tenant

Simply list your property with us and receive referencing checks for just £15 per tenant.

Comprensive Reports

Get reports on affordability ratings, preliminary Right to Rent, credit checks, and more.

Quick and Easy Checks

Verify tenants in as little as 2 hours and receive a comprehensive report which you can store in your online dashboard.

What is Tenant Referencing?

Once you have listed your property for rent, you’ll be on the hunt for the ideal tenants.

It’s essential that the proper checks are carried out on any potential tenants. This way you can ensure that:

They are who they say they are
They are eligible to rent in the UK
They have the means to pay their rent

Using a professional referencing service, like the one we offer here at Mashroom for just £15, is the best way to secure the best tenants and enjoy greater peace of mind.

It is a cheap, efficient, and effective way of vetting any potential tenants.

And what’s more, you can’t access other valuable insurances like Rent Guarantee Insurance without carrying out tenant referencing checks first – so it’s well worth doing!

How does it work?

List your property with Mashroom

List your property with Mashroom for free and gain exposure to millions of renters across portals like Rightmove and Zoopla. Let us take care of the particulars too, such as AST agreements and rent collection.

Right to rent, credit checks & more

Once you’ve accepted an offer on your property, we will process the holding deposit and you will be able to choose to reference your tenant.

We will notify the tenant ourselves so all that’s left for you to do is sit back and wait for the results to come in.

Get your tenant referencing results

Once the tenant has completed all the necessary details, we will run the referencing and credit checks. We’ll send you a comprehensive report of the tenant and upload this to the document storage section of the dashboard.

Do I need it?

Tenant referencing is not a legal requirement, but it’s really in your best interests to have it as it’s the best way of finding out about a prospective tenant, to help you decide whether you want to rent your property to them.

You want to be able to trust the tenant in several ways, you want to know that they will pay their rent on time, treat the property with respect and not cause any nuisance to neighbours.

Here are some reasons it’s best to reference:

It’s a quick and easy service for landlords

You can verify incoming tenants in as little as two hours with fast referencing – so it’s not going to hold the process up.

Tenancy agreement checks

You can ensure you have the best tenant for your property with extensive checks on the tenant, their situation, and their background. You really don’t want to be leaving something so precious in the hands of someone who won’t pay for it or take good care of it

Comprehensive reports

You’ll receive insightful reports on affordability ratings, preliminary Right to Rent, credit checks, and more. You can save these in our free document storage tool, so they are always to hand.

What if I don’t have it?

Maybe you’ll be lucky, and it will all be fine, but maybe whoever moved will be a nightmare tenant, unable or unwilling to pay, or not paying on time.

Prospective tenants are very often strangers to you – and would you leave such a valuable asset in the hands of someone you really knew nothing about? Professional tenant referencing checks will let you know a lot more about a prospective tenant and their suitability for renting.

Maybe they don’t have a job or aren’t even eligible to rent – all things that could have been uncovered by using a professional tenant referencing service.

But perhaps most importantly, you can’t get Landlord’s Rent Guarantee Insurance without carrying out proper referencing checks before a tenant moves in.

What checks are made for tenant referencing?

Tenant referencing is simply a series of checks, carried out by a professional agency or service into an applicant’s background.

As a landlord, of course you could do this by contacting a tenant’s referees directly, but it’s safer and more common to outsource these checks to a specialist referencing company for extra peace of mind.

The agency tenant reference check will usually require a tenant to submit some, or all, of the following:

Recent bank statements

Recent pay slips

Current landlord/managing agent reference

Employer reference

Bank account details

Proof of current address – E.G. A recent utility bill

Proof of previous addresses

Accountant reference (if self-employed)

Proof of identity

Why choose Mashroom referencing?

Then we can help you with a huge host of other things – some which are law – like carrying out a Gas Safety Certificate check every year.

List your property with Mashroom – gaining you immediate exposure to millions of renters across portals like Rightmove and Zoopla with our tenant find service

You’ll have access to a host of other freebies too when you list with us, including:

Mortgage advice and access to 12,000 mortgages
Market leading landlord insurance products, including Rent Guarantee Insurance and Home Emergency Insurance
Maintenance
Valuation
Document Storage and expiry reminders
…and more!

Not to mention, we share the latest news and updates from the sector, so you can keep on top of your game.

Let us take care of the particulars too, such as AST (assured shorthold tenancy) agreements and free rent collection. We can help you ensure that your agreements cover all the essentials and can organise reminding your tenants when their rent is due so payments don’t get missed.

If they do, our Rent Guarantee Insurance covers you up to £25,000. But you cannot get this type of insurance if you haven’t carried out the proper checks on your tenants before they move in. Which is just another reason to make sure you fully reference your potential tenants!

Still have questions? We have answers.

What is tenant referencing and what is checked?

Tenant referencing involves carrying out background checks on your incoming tenant to see if they are qualified to live in your home.

A tenant reference typically includes a credit check, bank and employment details, and previous renting history.

What are credit checks?

Credit checks usually form part of tenant referencing and include information about a potential tenant’s creditworthiness.

The company performing the credit check will look at things like:

The potential tenant’s current level of debt (if any)
If payments are made on time
Address history to provide a credit score
Their employment situation

The higher the score, the more creditworthy the tenant.

Is tenant referencing mandatory?

Legally, you don’t need to reference your tenants, but choosing not to carry out referencing can have serious implications.

Without a reference, you won’t know the renter’s suitability to live in your home. You also won’t be able to get Rent Guarantee Insurance, which requires successful tenant referencing as part of its cover conditions.

How does tenant referencing work?

Tenants need to go through several checks that look into their background. Once you have requested a tenant reference, a professional tenant-referencing agency will conduct the checks and provide a report on the renter’s suitability.

Who pays for tenant referencing?

As part of the Tenant Fees Act, tenants can’t be charged for referencing. That means the landlord covers the costs for referencing each tenant moving into their property.

The cost of referencing varies depending on the agency that you use – with Mashroom it’s just £15.

Why do I need to reference my tenant as a landlord?

Referencing your tenant provides added security and lets you know that the incoming renter is a suitable fit for your property.

Without a tenant reference check, you have no idea about the type of person moving into your home.

What happens if my tenant doesn’t pass referencing?

The final decision over whether or not to rent to a potential tenant lies with the landlord. If the renter doesn’t pass tenant referencing, you can ask them to provide a guarantor for added security.

A guarantor will guarantee the rent in the event that the tenant is unable to pay. If you need more advice on this, speak with one of our agents.

How long does tenant referencing take?

Tenant referencing typically takes between two hours and five days, depending on the company you use to reference the tenant.