u/TechnicalFeedback3

Just received the best email of our lives!! Thank you so much to this community for all the support. I'm praying you all get your approvals quickly! Details below.

USA

Unmarried partner

Standard application, no solicitor

Foreign self-employment (Category F)

Application: Feb 20th

Bio: Feb 25th (Seattle)

ECO: Feb 26th

Approval: May 21st at 2:51pm GMT

Couldn't have come at a better time. We leave for London in 10 days. Good luck to everyone, stay strong, you got this!!

If you applied outside standard in late Feb and are still waiting for a decision, please share your timeline and location below! Trying to gauge how many others are in the same situation. Very disheartening to see mid-March standard outside approvals while we get radio silence.

Our timeline:

Application: Feb 20, USA, Unmarried Partner

Bio: Feb 25th

ECO: Feb 26th

Received reminder to book bio in March, but no other contact or RFI since then. Today is WD ~56. We travel back to UK together on May 31, so starting to get quite stressed at this point.

Hello again everyone! As my partner and I are gearing up for our move from Seattle to London at the end of this month, I'm starting to register with letting agencies in our desired neighborhoods. I've just heard back from an agent at Chesterson's, and he claims they do not accept US tax returns as proof of income for referencing. He said the only alternatives are £97k in savings or a UK guarantor.

I'd really prefer to avoid paying £300 monthly for a guarantor service. I'm wondering if this is common or if others have found agencies that accept US tax returns? In case it helps, I also have 2+ years of client contracts, invoices, bank statements, 6+ months' rent in savings, and even a UK-registered accountant's certificate confirming my US income and profit in GBP (contracted for my partner's visa).

I know the new renter's rights rules have changed the game a bit, but if anyone has advice on this specific part of the referencing process, I'd be incredibly grateful. 🙏🏻

Hey everyone! My girlfriend and I are gearing up for our move to London on May 31, and I'm trying to get ahead on everything we can do to improve our odds at the crazy rental market. Looking for advice on best strategies for securing your first rental after the new Renter's Rights. I've tried to look for other threads about this specifically but didn't see any — please feel free to just link me if I missed them.

As I understand, moving from the US to the UK, we start over with 0 credit history. This makes you a less attractive applicant for rental properties. Previously, we could account for this by paying 3-6 months' rent upfront. But as of May 1st, the Renter's Rights Act prohibits this in all forms. Landlords are no longer allowed to even accept, let alone encourage or require, more than 1 month upfront plus security deposit.

Overall this is of course a great thing for renters in general, along with the other protections like the ban on bidding wars! However, it also means we as expats need to find alternative ways to earn the trust of UK landlords when we're first getting started.

So far, the only other option I've come across is a subscription-type guarantor service. Curious to hear other people's thoughts on this. I'm personally not stoked about the idea of adding another monthly expense just to show I can pay rent.

If you've got any other interesting strategies for the community, please drop them below!