The applicant
Their name and email are all the order asks about them. Everything else they give on their own form, sent to that address.
Reference a tenant without an agent
A credit-backed tenant or guarantor reference, ordered here with no account and paid once. The applicant fills in their own secure form, their referees are asked for you, and the report comes back by email, usually in 1 to 3 working days.
Order a reference
The applicant’s name and email, the property and the rent are all it needs, with no account to open first.
What happens next
Card payment by Stripe. The check starts once the payment is confirmed, and runs through a regulated UK credit reference agency.
What you no longer do yourself
To order a tenant reference without an agent, choose a full tenant reference or a guarantor reference, enter the applicant’s name and email and the property, and pay once by card, with no account. The applicant fills in their own secure form, their employer and previous landlord are asked, and the report comes back by email, usually in 1 to 3 working days.
1 to 3working days, usually
Chasing the employer and the last landlord
The referees are contacted directly by email, so the waiting is theirs, not yours. Add the applicant’s mobile and the referencing team can chase them if they go quiet.
Opening an account for one check
Nothing to sign up to and no subscription. Pay by card at checkout and the invoice comes by email. The check starts only once the payment is confirmed.
Collecting payslips and ID yourself
The applicant is sent one email with a secure form for their income, employment, address history and current landlord, and the credit check runs through a regulated UK credit reference agency.
Guessing whether they can afford it
A full reference assesses affordability against the rent you enter, for the whole property or one room in a shared house, and on combined income when two people take the tenancy together.
One order, filled in
Grace Adeyemi’s reference for Flat 3, 27 Kingsley Road, Sheffield, in the sample account on 18 Oct 2026. In an account her details came from her application; on this page you type the same few lines.
The property
The rent is what affordability is measured against, for the whole property or a room in a shared house.
How ordering a reference works
Four details and a card payment, from a phone or a computer.
Choose the check
A full tenant reference for the person who will live there, or a guarantor reference for someone who agrees to pay the rent if they do not.
Add the applicant and the property
Their name and email, the address, the monthly rent and whether it is the whole property or a room. A mobile number helps if they go quiet.
Pay once by card
Stripe takes the payment at checkout. Once it is confirmed the check starts, and an email confirms the order with a link to follow it.
They fill in their form, you get the result
The applicant is emailed a secure form, their referees are contacted, and you are emailed when the report is ready, usually in 1 to 3 working days.
A guarantor reference asks for the job number of the tenant’s own reference, so the tenant’s reference comes first.
One reference here, or the whole let in one place
A one-off reference needs nothing else. If you would rather run the let yourself, the same check sits in a LetCompliance account beside the applications, the agreement and the rent, with the certificate and deposit dates watched in the background.
Applications and viewings
Applicants apply from your own link or your listing, with no account to create, and a reference is ordered from their application.
Sample account with made-up details, 18 Oct 2026 The tenancy agreement, signed online
The agreement is drafted from the tenancy and e-signed in the same account, so the rent and the dates are typed once.
Sample account with made-up details, 16 Oct 2026 Rent by Direct Debit
The rent is collected from the due date into your own Stripe account, with no commission, and each payment posts to the tenancy by itself.
Sample account with made-up details, 17 Oct 2026 The tenant portal
Tenants see what is due, report repairs and message you, with no password to remember.
Sample account with made-up details, 17 Oct 2026
£24.99 a reference, paid once
A full tenant reference is £24.99 and a guarantor reference is £19.99, with no VAT added, each paid by card when you order, with no account and no subscription. A cheaper credit only check, at £12.99, is ordered from inside an account, where the applicant’s date of birth and consent can be taken securely.
Want a second opinion on a borderline result? A Tenant Risk Report, from £79, has a credit risk analyst grade the risk and explain why. How the risk report works
Tenant referencing without an agent
A landlord can reference a tenant without an agent by ordering a credit-backed reference directly, once an applicant has been chosen and before anything is signed. The applicant fills in their own secure form, the referencing team contacts their referees, and the report comes back to you to decide on.
Before the viewings: set one income bar
Decide the income the rent needs and hold every applicant to the same figure, counting benefit income like any other. The rent affordability calculator works it out for a given rent.
Once you choose someone: hold the property
A holding deposit of up to one week’s rent can keep the property for them while the checks run. The permitted payments checker shows what else a tenant may be asked to pay.
Order the reference
Enter their name and email, the property and the rent, and pay once. They are sent one email with a secure form, and their employer and last landlord are contacted directly.
While you wait: allow a few working days
Most references come back in 1 to 3 working days, and most of that is the referees replying. How long referencing takes covers what slows one down.
Read the report, then decide
A reference informs the decision; it does not make it. Where a previous landlord will not reply, the options when there is no reference include a guarantor, whose agreement can start from the guarantor agreement template.
What a tenant reference costs, three ways
Ordered here, a full tenant reference is £24.99 and a guarantor reference £19.99, paid once. Doing it yourself costs only time, with no credit check. A letting agent who finds the tenant charges a tenant find fee for the whole job. One agent lists 90% of the first month’s rent, minimum £720; another, one month’s rent plus VAT, or £1,200 if greater.
A letting agent finding the tenant
- What it costs
- A tenant find fee for the whole job
- What is checked
- Whatever the agent’s own referencing covers
- Who asks the referees
- The agent, or a referencing company it uses
- What you get back
- The agent’s choice of tenant
Doing it yourself
- What it costs
- Your time
- What is checked
- What the employer, the last landlord and the payslips say
- Who asks the referees
- You, by phone and email
- What you get back
- Your own notes, with no credit file
Ordering here
- What it costs
- £24.99 a tenant, £19.99 a guarantor
- What is checked
- Identity, credit-backed affordability, income and employment, and the last landlord
- Who asks the referees
- The referencing team, by email
- What you get back
- A report to download, usually in 1 to 3 working days
Tenant referencing rules in England, in brief
What you may charge, who you must check and how income must be weighed, each with its source.
The landlord pays for the reference
A tenant may be asked only for the payments the Tenant Fees Act 2019 permits, such as the rent, a capped deposit and a holding deposit. A reference is not one of them, so its cost stays with the landlord or agent.
Source: GOV.UK, Fees you can charge as part of a tenancy (opens in a new tab)
A holding deposit is one week’s rent at most
It may be kept only if the applicant fails a Right to Rent check, withdraws, stops responding to move the tenancy on, or gives false or misleading information that affects their suitability. Otherwise it is refunded, or taken off the first month’s rent or the deposit if the tenant agrees, and the standard time to hold it is 15 calendar days.
Source: GOV.UK, Fees you can charge: holding deposits (opens in a new tab)
Right to Rent is a separate check, and yours
Before a tenancy starts, the landlord must check that every tenant aged 18 or over can legally rent in England, whoever runs the reference. The Right to Rent check wizard walks through which documents count.
Source: GOV.UK, Check your tenant’s right to rent (opens in a new tab)
One income bar for every applicant
Since 1 May 2026 a landlord or agent must not turn people away for having children or claiming benefits. Income can still be weighed against the rent, as long as the same requirement applies to everyone and benefit income counts like any other. The guide to screening tenants without discrimination has worked examples.
Source: GOV.UK, Rental discrimination under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (opens in a new tab)
This is not legal advice. How references sit beside applications, guarantors and the tenancy inside an account is on the page for tenant and guarantor referencing.
Ordering a reference, answered
Straight answers on the price, the wait, the rules and what the applicant does.
Still have a question?
How much does a tenant reference cost?
A full tenant reference is £24.99 and a guarantor reference is £19.99, each paid once by card, with no VAT added. There is no subscription and no account to open. A credit only check is £12.99, ordered from inside a LetCompliance account.
How long does a tenant reference take?
Usually 1 to 3 working days once the applicant has filled in their form. The slow part is the employer and the previous landlord replying, so a quick applicant and quick referees make a quick reference. You are emailed the moment the result is ready.
Can I order a tenant reference without an account?
Yes. A full tenant reference or a guarantor reference can be ordered on this page with no account and no subscription. You pay once, and the confirmation, the link to follow the order and the result all go to the email address you give.
Can a landlord do tenant referencing without an agent?
Yes. Nothing requires an agent: you can ask for payslips and call the employer and the last landlord yourself. A credit-backed reference adds a credit check through a regulated UK credit reference agency and has the referees asked for you, and the decision to let stays yours.
What does a tenant reference check?
A full reference covers identity, a credit-backed affordability assessment against the rent, employment and income, and a previous landlord reference where one is available. The report sets out what the checks found, such as the overall result, any county court judgments, the address checks and the maximum affordable rent.
Can I charge the tenant for referencing?
Not in England. A landlord or agent may take only the payments the Tenant Fees Act 2019 permits, and a reference is not one of them, so the landlord pays for it. A holding deposit of up to one week’s rent may be taken while the checks run.
What does the applicant have to do?
Open one email and fill in a secure form about their income, employment, address history and current landlord, consenting to the checks. Their referees are then contacted directly. Adding their mobile number lets the referencing team chase them if they go quiet.
How do I get the result?
By email. When the report is ready you are sent the result with a link to a private page for the order, where the full report downloads as a PDF. The report is never attached to the email itself, because it holds the applicant’s credit details.
What is a guarantor reference?
A credit-backed affordability check on someone who agrees to pay the rent if the tenant does not. It is £19.99 and asks for the job number of the tenant’s own reference, which the tenant’s report prints as its reference number, so the tenant’s reference comes first.
Can I reference a couple or a room in a shared house?
Yes. Each person is referenced on their own order. Tick joint application when two people are taking the tenancy together, so they are assessed on their combined income rather than each against the full rent, and choose a room in a house share to have affordability measured against that room’s rent.
Is a tenant reference the same as a Right to Rent check?
No. In England the landlord must check that every tenant aged 18 or over can legally rent before the tenancy starts, whoever runs the reference. If the applicant has already given you a share code, it can go on the order for the referencing team.
Can I run the whole let without a paid plan?
The free plan is £0 for one property and keeps rent tracked on the tenancy with receipts, the tenant portal with repairs, the certificate dates with email reminders and the 0 to 100 compliance score. Making Tax Digital and Direct Debit collection need Single.
