By A landlord asked us this week: "I keep getting burned by bad tenants, what am I doing wrong?" It turned out they'd been treating references as a box-ticking exercise rather than actually reading them properly. Usually it's not bad luck, it's the process.
Finding a good tenant isn't about gut feeling or a good first impression. It's about consistent, evidence-based referencing, applied the same way every time, and knowing exactly what you can and can't ask for under the current rules.
What's actually changed
Since 1 May 2026, landlords can no longer ask for more than one month's rent upfront, even if a tenant offers it voluntarily, which used to be a common way of derisking a shaky reference. Guarantors are still allowed and now matter more than ever as a result. It's also unlawful to reject a tenant simply because they receive benefits or have children. Every decision now has to be justified on affordability and reference evidence alone.
What actually works
Verify income against rent, usually two and a half to three times the monthly rent as a rough affordability guide. Run a credit check and a right to rent check on every applicant, no exceptions. Take references from previous landlords seriously rather than treating them as a formality. Where the numbers are borderline, a guarantor is the right fix, not a compromise on the property. And if we have any concerns at NGU, we'll visit the tenant in their current home, since seeing how someone actually lives tells you more than any reference can.
The bottom line
Good tenants aren't rare, they're just harder to spot if you're not looking properly. Get the process right and you'll find them, and you'll have the evidence to back every decision along the way. That's exactly the process we run for every property we manage.