More renters lie about pay to secure tenancies

Over half of all fraudulent tenancy applications involve fake or doctored pay slips, a PropTech firm claims.

Goodlord analysed a sample size of over 300,000 tenancy applications submitted by people looking to rent homes in 2022.

Only a tiny fraction - just one in 1,000 - of these applications were fraudulent, 54 per cent of those proven to be false involved payslip fraud.

The firm’s managing director Blake Richmond says: “As the technology fraudsters use gets smarter, agents should ensure they’re deploying the best-in-class tech tools to combat it. The use of Open Banking, AI-based ID tools, and credit referencing software are incredibly effective at picking up this kind of fraud.

“Likewise, it’s essential that agents and landlords look out for red flags in tenant behaviour.

“These include refusing to cooperate with Open Banking requests or, when it comes to the pay slips, using the wrong tax codes, missing out key sections, or forgetting to add NET/Gross pay.”

When renting a property, prospective tenants must provide accurate details around their employment status and income, so that letting agents and landlords can ensure they will be able to afford the rent over the course of the contract.

Those who might not be able to afford it may be asked to provide a guarantor, a trend which is also on the rise.

According to a Goodlord analysis in November 2022, just under 15 per cent of renters required a guarantor, up from less than 12 per cent at the same time in 2021.

This reflects the rising cost for rental homes in England.

The PropTech firm says the average cost for a property in England was £1,076.43 per month in January 2023 - up eight per cent compared to prices in January 2022.