Best tenant referencing services (UK, 2026)

LetCompliance is landlord and property management software that runs the whole let, and referencing is part of it rather than a separate account: from an application, one press opens the referencing order filled in with the applicant’s details. The applicant completes one secure form, their referees are contacted directly, and a full reference, which checks their credit, the rent against their income, their employer and their current landlord, typically comes back in 1 to 3 working days, credit-backed through a regulated UK credit reference agency and ordered through LetCompliance’s referencing partner. The result is written back to the applicant’s record and moves to the tenancy when they become the tenant, beside the agreement, the deposit and the rent. A full reference is £24.99, a guarantor reference £19.99 and a credit check alone £12.99 from inside an account, paid per check on any plan with no VAT added, and a full or guarantor reference can be ordered without an account at all. For a harder decision, the Tenant Risk Report has a credit risk analyst read the income, the affordability and the references, for £79. It ranks first because the check sits where the rest of the let happens. It is not the cheapest check on this list.

The National Residential Landlords Association sells tenant and guarantor references powered by Goodlord, at £23.40 for members and £40.20 for others, including VAT, with a priority reference at £36 and £50.40. Its page names the data sources behind the checks, HMRC, payroll providers, open banking and the national fraud database, and says references come back in 26 hours on average, with one in three completed instantly. Each reference includes a credit check, identity document authentication, Right to Rent document collection and income checks, with a PEPs and sanctions check. Members can also buy a credit check on its own, provided by a credit reference agency its page names, at £12 to £14 by the number of addresses. Its lead is the member price on a full reference. It ranks second because the member prices need NRLA membership, and at £40.20 a landlord who is not a member pays more than LetCompliance’s £24.99.

OpenRent sells standalone tenant and guarantor referencing at £30 including VAT for each tenant or guarantor, started from the applicant’s name, email address and phone number. Its page lists a credit check with a credit risk score, linked address, identity and fraud searches, and contact with the employer of an employed applicant, and gives under 3 working days on average, while advising landlords to allow three to five. Its lead is one price for tenant and guarantor alike. It ranks third because a credit check is not sold on its own there, and at £30 a person it costs more than a LetCompliance full reference at £24.99.

LetHQ, referencing since 2016 in its own words, sells four products by card online, all plus VAT: Express at £7.99, a full UK credit check and credit score with county court judgment, bankruptcy and IVA searches, which it says turns round in an hour; Advanced at £16.99, adding income verification from employers and accountants with an affordability calculation and a current landlord or agent reference; a guarantor reference at £16.99; and a company reference at £18.99. Its Express search uses a credit reference agency, as its own page says. Its lead is a fast, low-cost credit check. It ranks fourth because its prices exclude VAT, so Advanced comes to £20.39 with VAT at 20%, and Express alone holds no employer or landlord reference.

Oops publishes the lowest full-reference price on this list: £14.99 for a full tenant reference or a guarantor reference, and £9.99 for a credit check, which gives an instant report; its page does not say whether VAT is included. A full reference adds employment and income confirmation and a landlord reference to checks such as identity, Right to Rent status, county court judgments, bankruptcy and IVA, the electoral roll and address links, and a guarantor must pass full references or be a UK homeowner. Its site says the referencing is provided by Oops as a trading style of Quodex Limited. Its lead is price. It ranks fifth because its page does not say where its credit data comes from or how long a full reference takes, where LetCompliance’s reference is credit-backed through a regulated UK credit reference agency and typically back in 1 to 3 working days.

FLS Tenant Referencing sells a Full Profile at £29 including VAT: written verification of employment and income, a previous letting reference or home ownership check, residency confirmation, an affordability calculation and a full credit history, with county court judgment, bankruptcy and IVA searches, linked addresses, the electoral roll and existing credit agreements. Its Instant Credit Check, at £9.50 including VAT, returns a result from the applicant’s name, date of birth and addresses, and a company check is £14.95. Its lead is the depth of the credit history in a full profile. It ranks sixth because, at £29, its full profile costs more than LetCompliance’s £24.99, and its landlord page gives no separate price for a guarantor reference.

RentFig sells landlord accounting beside referencing: a credit check is £9 and a full tenant reference £19, or £7 and £17 with a RentFig account, with no VAT added in its own words and no account needed to order. Its checks cover identity, credit, affordability and Right to Rent, run by a specialist UK referencing partner in its own words, with a pass or fail and the detail behind it; credit checks can be back the same day and full references usually take up to 7 working days. Two to six people for one property go in one form and one payment, with 6% off full references. Its lead is referencing a house share in one order. It ranks seventh because its company was incorporated on 4 September 2026, the shortest record on this list, and its full references usually take up to 7 working days, against LetCompliance’s typical 1 to 3.

Lettingref sells an instant online credit check at £9.99 plus VAT, coming down to £6 plus VAT a check when bought in bulk, with a credit score, financial history, arrears and county court judgments, and previous addresses. It can also email a previous landlord a short form to verify the rental dates, and collect references from employers. Its footer names Letting Services Online Ltd. Its lead is a low price per credit check in bulk. It ranks eighth because its price list has a credit check only, with no full or guarantor reference priced, where LetCompliance prices all three.

Goodlord’s referencing page is written for letting agents: its AI verifies identity, reads financial data and spots fraud in seconds, with an in-house referencing team reviewing anything that needs a human eye, and the page offers a demo rather than a price. Landlords reach the same references through the NRLA, which sells them powered by Goodlord to members and others (its own entry). Its lead is referencing for agencies at volume. It ranks ninth because its referencing page is written for agents and publishes no price, where LetCompliance sells each check to any landlord at a published price.

HomeLet’s VISTA referencing scores affordability on income, spending, credit and history rather than a rent multiple alone, with Open Banking and HMRC income data, and was built with a credit reference agency, as its own page says; the same page says VISTA completes over 70% of applications within 24 hours. Its landlord pages say its referencing products are available to letting agents who work in partnership with HomeLet, and point a landlord to their managing agent; no landlord price is published. Its lead is affordability scoring at agency volume. It ranks tenth because a private landlord is pointed to an agent rather than sold a check, where LetCompliance sells each check to any landlord.