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How to choose a good tenant
What a reliable tenant looks like on paper, the warning signs that show up in documents rather than in person, and how to decide fairly when several people want the same property. Then how to keep the tenancy you chose.
Free for one property.3 applicants a year, everything else included. No card, no expiry.
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Two applicants, one propertyWhich would you let to?
Invented applicants, illustrative figures. The failures shown are real ones the checks catch.
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What a good tenant looks like on paper
Not a feeling, a pattern. The applicants who go on to pay quietly for years tend to show the same five things, and every one of them is checkable before anybody signs anything.
01
Income that actually lands
A salary visibly arriving, month after month, from the employer they named.
How it goes wrongA payslip is a claim, not a payment. Find the credit in the statement and match it to the net pay.
02
Affordability with margin
Roughly thirty times the monthly rent in annual income, or rent under about a third of take-home.
How it goes wrongThe exact ratio matters less than the headroom. A tenant with margin survives a bad month; one without it does not.
03
Complete, recent history
Three consecutive months, no missing weeks, recent enough to describe their life now.
How it goes wrongA gap is rarely an accident. Ask for the missing month rather than glossing over it.
04
Details that agree with each other
The same name on the form, the payslip and the bank account. The same salary in both places.
How it goes wrongConsistency is what genuine paperwork does without trying. One harmless exception: a passport prints the surname in its own box.
05
A previous landlord who would take them back
Three questions: paid on time, condition on leaving, would you let to them again.
How it goes wrongA mobile number with no traceable landlord behind it is a courtesy, not a reference. Check the person exists.
Instinct is not evidence
Every experienced landlord has a story about a lovely viewing and a terrible tenancy. There is a reason for it: the applicants most worth catching interview best. The serial non-payer, the person landlords call a professional tenant, arrives punctual, charming and paperwork-ready, because the paperwork is rehearsed.
Charm is what you see in twenty minutes. Evidence is what three months of bank statements say. When the two disagree, believe the statements. That is not cynicism, it is the only part of the decision you can check.
The quiet benefit of choosing on evidence: it is also the fair way. The same checks on every applicant, in the same order, treats people identically and lets the paperwork speak for them.
Red flags that live in the paperwork
Deductions that do not computeTemplate payslips get the gross right and the tax arithmetic impossibly wrong. If the numbers could not come from a real payroll, the document did not either.
The salary that never landsA payslip can claim anything. If the claimed pay never appears in the statements, you have your answer before the viewing is cold.
A missing monthThe month left out is the month worth seeing. Ask for it, and treat reluctance as information.
Pressure to skip the checksSix months up front to move in this weekend can be generosity, and can be a way to make vetting feel rude. Take the offer into account and do the checks anyway.
A reference you cannot verifyConfirm the landlord exists independently of the number you were given. Compare the address they name with the one printed on the statements.
The comparison, done
Send one link. Get back a ranked shortlist.
The comparison you are trying to hold in your head arrives finished, with the working shown. Every applicant asked for the same evidence, every document checked by arithmetic, every flag naming its reason.
Free for one property · 3 applicants a year · No card, no expiry · Unlimited applicants and printable exports from £8 a month
applicant shortlist5 screened
R. Patel95 · Excellent
Income consistency£2,840 payslip · £2,837 in bankMatch
Payslip integritytax & NI recomputedPassed
Statement ledgercash balance arithmeticPassed
Affordabilityrent is 28% of verified incomeAffordable
What Tenavia does for you
Free for one property.3 applicants a year, everything else included. No card, no expiry.
Screen the tenantsApplicants send payslips and bank statements through your link. You get a ranked list. See howClose
One reply to paste into OpenRent or any listing site. Screening questions before viewings, so you only show people who fit.
47 checks on every applicant. Every warning says why. You make the choice.
Record the property’s conditionDated photos at move-in, inspections and move-out, side by side. See howClose
Take the photos on your phone. At the next inspection the camera shows the last photo faintly, so you line up the same shot.
Every photo is dated by us, not by the phone.
Stay compliantGas, electrical and energy certificates, and the deposit deadline. We remind you before they run out. See howClose
One page shows every date. Reminders by email before anything lapses.
No software makes you compliant, but nothing here gets forgotten.
Find a tradespersonTenants report a problem through a link. You request tradesperson quotes in one tap. See howClose
No app and no account for the tenant. You see the report with photos.
Pick a tradesperson, keep the quote, and the job is on the record.
Track the moneyRent checked off each month. Receipts kept for your tax return. See howClose
Late rent gets a dated letter you can send.
Receipts are read and filed in the boxes HMRC uses.
Everything is dated and kept in one file, ready if there is ever a dispute.
Deciding fairly when several people want it
When the property draws a crowd, the decision needs to be one you can stand behind later. Two rules do most of the work.
01
Same checks, same order, every applicant
Equality law means you cannot reject someone for a protected characteristic, and since the Renters’ Rights Act the decision cannot become a bidding war either. A consistent process is what makes your choice defensible if it is ever questioned.
02
Decide on the documented reason, then keep it
“Strongest verified affordability and a confirmed landlord reference” is a decision. “Seemed nicest” is a hope. The first one survives being asked about a year later; the second does not.
When two are genuinely level
Compare the same three numbers for both: verified income against the rent, what is left each month after the rent leaves, and how complete the evidence is. If they are still level, the confirmed landlord reference is usually the tiebreaker. What you should not do is compare two different sets of documents. Get the same pack from both first.
Questions landlords ask
The judgement calls the checklist cannot make for you.
How do I choose between multiple tenants who all look good?
Compare the same three numbers for all of them: verified income against the rent, what is left each month after rent, and the completeness of their evidence. If they are still level, the confirmed landlord reference is usually the tiebreaker. What you should not do is start comparing different sets of documents; get the same pack from everyone first.
What tenant selection criteria should I use?
Write them down before the first viewing and apply them to every applicant in the same order: income that verifiably lands, rent under roughly a third of it, three complete months of statements, details that agree across the documents, and a previous landlord who would take them back. A tenant selection process that is the same for everyone is both the fair one and the one that survives being questioned later.
How do I spot a fake rental application or a fake landlord reference?
A fake rental application usually fails on arithmetic rather than appearance: tax and National Insurance that could not come from a real payroll, a claimed salary that never lands in the statements, a month missing. A fake landlord reference is a mobile number with no traceable landlord behind it; confirm the person exists independently and compare the address they give with the one printed on the statements.
What income should a tenant have?
The common rule of thumb is annual income of at least thirty times the monthly rent, or rent under roughly a third of monthly take-home. Treat it as a starting point, not a law: what matters is verified income and what genuinely remains after the rent leaves.
Can I just go with my gut?
It is your property and, within equality law, your choice. But gut feel is exactly where the expensive mistakes live, because difficult tenants interview well. Use the gut to decide who you would like to be right about, then let the documents confirm or veto it.
Should I just take the highest earner?
Not automatically. A high earner with chaotic statements and an unverifiable reference is a weaker bet than a modest earner with margin, complete history and a landlord who would take them back. Reliability is a pattern, not a number.
Does the score reject applicants for me?
No. It ranks and explains itself, and every flag names its reason so you can look at the evidence and disagree with it. The decision stays yours, which is also why the reason you chose is worth writing down.
What happens after I choose someone?
The part most screening tools leave you to do alone. The deposit clock and its prescribed information, the certificates that have to reach the tenant, rent tracked to the day, the move-in condition photographed. All of it dated in one file, because since section 21 went the record is what a possession case is built from.
Do my applicants pay for any of this?
No. Applicants pay nothing to apply or to be screened, ever. Your plan covers the property, with no per-applicant fees.