Tenant referencing for people renting in the UK
If your letting agent or landlord has asked you to complete a tenant reference, you can do it here, straight from your phone.
We'll check your identity, rental history and financial information, so your agent can see that your details are genuine and that you can afford the rent.
If you provide all the information we need, your reference can be completed the same day.
For anyone about to rent
You have found a place. The viewing was fine, you can picture your sofa in the front room, and then the agent says nothing moves until the reference comes back. That email is not a trick. Landlords want to know the person moving in can pay the rent and is who they say they are. The reference is that check, written up so the agent does not have to guess.
It is not a credit score printed on a certificate for you to frame. It is a look at this tenancy. The rent on this property, the income you have now, the addresses behind you. Someone who had a rough patch a few years ago is not the same case as someone whose wages do not cover the rent this month. A decent reference can tell those two stories apart.
letassess.org is where you complete it. You do not have to understand the agent’s software, and you do not have to wait for your old landlord to dig out a letter if we can see the rent leaving your account. You answer in plain English. We do the checking. The result goes back to the agent who asked.
A finished reference is not the keys
When we are done, the agent still decides. They might have a holding deposit to take, a guarantor to speak to, or another applicant they have already promised the room to. If you have not heard, chase the agent, not the reference. We will have sent it.
Start with the reference
Start with the reference your agent asked for. The other notes on this page explain what we look at, including how we check that the rent fits your income.
If you only have a few minutes on a bus, use the first box. The other two are there for the evening you want to understand what the agent is reading.
Do this one
Start here
For tenants who have been asked to complete a reference
This is the path most people take. Answer the questions, confirm who you are, and we get the reference moving for the agent who sent you.
The detail
So you know what the agent is going to see
A reference is not a vibe check. It is your identity, the places you have lived, and a fair look at whether the rent fits the money coming in.
Same day
If your details are complete, the reference is ready the same day.
Same day means the file is complete. If you start on your lunch break with your ID in your pocket and the right bank account to hand, you are in the group that finishes today.
You can read every page on this site and still only need one button. Apply for a same day reference. If your details are complete, the reference is ready the same day.
The rent has to be payable
The reference needs to know the money coming in is enough for this rent, after the bills you already pay. That is an income check. Connecting the account your wages go into is one option inside it, if you want us to see the payments directly. It is not a separate product, and you can show the same thing with documents.
Salary, regular benefits, or self employed income you can actually point at. A hopeful number on a form is not income.
We use the rent the agent quoted for this property, or your share of it if you are splitting the place.
Credit commitments and the ordinary bills matter. Two people on the same wage can afford very different rents.
A connected account is one option. Payslips and other proof are another. We are checking the income, not selling you a banking service.
The check is about the rent, not the bank
If we can see the income without waiting on your employer, the reference moves faster. If we cannot, we ask for proof. Either way the question is the same: can you pay this rent. If your details are complete, the reference is ready the same day.
Why people use letassess.org
You are packing, you are arguing with a van company, and someone still wants a reference. The page should not feel like a second job. We wrote it so you can do it with one thumb, on the sofa, after the viewing.
One question, then the next. You can see how far along you are. You are not hunting for a tiny link in a paragraph of terms.
The connection is encrypted. We use what we need for the reference and the privacy page says the rest in full sentences, not slogans.
The form notices a date that cannot be right, or an address with the postcode missing, before you hit the end and have to start again.
If the automatic checks cannot see what they need, it does not vanish. Someone looks at it. You can also write to us from the contact page.
Five minutes of finding things
You do not need a folder. You need the facts you already know, plus one document that proves the name. If you are on a phone, open your photos or your banking app in another tab so you are not digging through emails in the middle of a question.
The full legal name, date of birth, and any previous names. If your passport still has an old surname, use that and tell us the name you use now.
The addresses, with postcodes, for the stretch we ask about. A room in a shared house counts. So does moving back to your parents for six months.
Passport or driving licence if you have one. A National Insurance number helps too. A photo on your phone is enough.
What actually arrives, and how often. If a partner pays half the rent, say so. Guessing high is how references get sent back.
In the order you will meet them
Nothing clever. You give us the facts, we check them, and the agent gets an answer they can use. If you only remember one thing, make it this: a complete file is a same day file. A file with a gap waits.
Your legal name, your date of birth, and where you have lived. If you have moved a few times, that is normal. Just go back as far as we ask, even if one of the places was a mate’s sofa.
We match your details to the address history you gave us. Have a passport or driving licence nearby if you have one. You can photograph them on your phone. You do not need to find a scanner.
We check the income you rely on against the rent on this place. Connecting the account your wages go into is one option for that check. Payslips and other proof work too.
When the reference is finished it goes back to the letting agent. They may still have their own bits to do, so wait for them to tell you the flat is yours. A finished reference is not the same thing as the keys.
Same day, when the file is complete
If your details are complete, the reference is ready the same day. If we have to ask you for a missing address or a clearer photo of your licence, the clock starts again from the moment you send it. That is the only trick to the timing.
The things people worry about
Before they let you move in, the agent or the landlord wants to know the rent is realistic for you and that the name on the application matches a real person. The reference is how they check that. It is a normal part of renting in the UK, not a sign that they do not trust you personally.
Yes. That is how most people do it. The questions are one screen at a time, the buttons are large enough to hit with a thumb, and you can pause if someone rings you. Come back to the same link and pick up where you left off.
Shift work, more than one job, money from self employment, or help from a parent who is acting as a guarantor. Say what is actually true. A reference that pretends you have one tidy payslip, when you do not, is the thing that slows the move down.
If the details are complete, and we can see the income without chasing anyone, the reference is ready the same day. If something is missing, a name that does not match your ID, or a bank account that is not the one your wages go into, it takes longer because a person has to look at it.
The reference is for the agent or landlord who asked for it. We do not put your bank balance on a poster. Read the privacy page if you want the formal version. The short version is that the data is there to decide whether this tenancy makes sense.
There are more on the FAQ and in the help centre, including what happens if you are self employed or you have only just arrived in the UK.
Have your name, your recent addresses and a rough idea of your income nearby. Most people get through it in one sitting on their phone.
If your details are complete, the reference is ready the same day.