Key takeaways
- Complete applications are typically decided within two business days.
- Each incomplete round trip adds roughly a day to the decision.
- Send every document at once, correctly named, in a single message.
- Self-employed and international applicants should prepare extra evidence early.
When a rental application stalls, the cause is almost never a hesitant landlord. It is an incomplete file. A file that arrives complete is generally decided within two business days; a file that arrives in three instalments takes a week, and by then the property has often gone to somebody who sent everything at once.
Below is the full checklist, by applicant type, along with the small formatting details that speed decisions up.
Every applicant
- Government-issued photo identification, in date and fully legible.
- Proof of current address dated within the last three months.
- Proof of income — usually the three most recent pay stubs.
- Bank statements for the last two to three months.
- A reference from your current or most recent landlord, with contact details.
- An employer reference or offer letter confirming role, salary and start date.
- Consent for a credit and background check.
If you are self-employed
- Two years of tax returns, or one year plus year-to-date accounts.
- A letter from your accountant confirming income.
- Six months of business bank statements.
- Contracts or invoices evidencing continuing work.
If you are applying as a business
- Certificate of incorporation or registration.
- The most recent filed accounts, or management accounts for newer companies.
- Three to six months of business bank statements.
- Identification for the authorized signatory and confirmation of their authority.
- Details of any proposed guarantor.
Students, guarantors and international applicants
Students should supply enrolment confirmation and a guarantor's full document set, since the guarantor is effectively the assessed party. International applicants should prepare a visa or right-to-reside document, an international credit reference where one exists, and be ready to discuss a larger deposit or advance rent as an alternative to local credit history.
How to send it
- One message, all attachments, nothing to follow.
- PDF or clear photographs; no screenshots of screenshots.
- Name files plainly: surname-payslip-june.pdf, not IMG_4471.
- Redact nothing that is required, but do redact full account numbers where they are not.
Three round trips turn a two-day approval into a week — usually after the property has been let to someone else.
What happens next
Once a complete file arrives we verify identity and income, contact your previous landlord directly, and run the agreed checks. You will receive a decision, in writing, with the reasoning — including when the answer is no. If a document is genuinely unavailable, tell us early; there is nearly always an acceptable alternative, but only if we know before the file goes for review.