Fast tenant referencing
Know exactly who you're letting to.
Professional tenant referencing for UK landlords — identity, credit, affordability and Right to Rent, run by a specialist UK referencing partner. Credit checks are usually back within minutes, full references often the same day. Pay per check. No subscription. No account required.
Bought directly by you, the landlord — no letting agent required. Most well-known UK referencing brands (Goodlord, HomeLet, Canopy, Let Alliance) sell only through letting agents and won't serve a self-managing landlord at all.
- Soft search — never affects credit scores
- Credit checks in minutes, full references often same day
- Pay per check, from £9
Licensed data, UK partner
Every check runs through our specialist UK referencing partner on licensed credit-reference-agency data — the same sources letting agents use.
Consent-first by design
Your applicant is contacted directly and securely to supply their own details and consent. You never handle their sensitive data.
Soft search only
Checks never leave a mark on the applicant's credit file or affect their score — searchable only by them.
Fast — often same day
Credit checks are usually back within minutes. Full references typically complete within 48 hours of the applicant completing their part — many the same day.
Two checks. One clear price each.
No subscription, no bundle, no minimum volume — order exactly the check you need, when you need it.
Credit check
£9per check
The fast first filter — confirm who they are and how they handle credit.
Includes:
- Credit history & adverse-credit search
- Soft search — no impact on the tenant's credit score
- Identity verification
- AML (anti-money-laundering) check
Save £2 as a RentFig member — pay £7
Full tenant reference
£19per reference
The complete picture — everything a letting agent would run, without the agent.
Everything in the credit check, plus:
- Income & affordability verification
- Employer & previous-landlord references
- Right to Rent check (England)
- Anti-fraud verification
Save £2 as a RentFig member — pay £17
For comparison: a letting agent typically charges £30+ per reference, and standalone referencing services £25–£50 for a full reference.
How it works
- 1
Order online in two minutes
Choose a credit check or full reference, tell us who you're referencing, and pay by card. No account needed.
- 2
Your applicant does their part
Our referencing partner emails them directly to collect their details and consent, securely.
- 3
Your report arrives
A clear verdict with the full detail behind it, emailed to you — usually within 48 hours, often the same day.
Referencing a guarantor instead? Choose Guarantor when you order and we'll ask them the guarantor questions — home ownership and income — rather than the tenant ones.
Not ready to run a check yet?
Collect a prospective tenant's full application first with our free tenant application form — then reference them when you're ready.
Writing a reference instead of running one?
If a good tenant is moving on and asks you to vouch for them, use our free landlord reference letter template — covering rent history, property condition and whether you'd let to them again.
Letting more than once a year?
RentFig members pay £7 per credit check and £17 per full reference — and every report files itself against the right tenancy, alongside compliance, rent chasing and accounting.
Try RentFig freeRefer a landlord
Give £2, get £3.
Members get a referral link. A landlord who orders a full reference through it pays £17 instead of £19; you get £3 off your next full reference when theirs completes — that's a member full reference for £14. If they run their whole portfolio through RentFig too, you also earn £1 a month for as long as they stay subscribed.
Questions landlords ask
- Who actually runs the checks?
- Checks are run through our specialist UK referencing partner, using data from licensed credit reference agencies. The partner contacts your applicant directly to collect their details and consent, so sensitive information goes straight from tenant to referencing agency — it never has to pass through you.
- Can I use this without a RentFig account?
- Yes. RentFig tenant referencing is open to any UK landlord — you order online, pay by card, and the report arrives by email. No account, no subscription, no minimum volume. RentFig members pay £2 less on every check and have each reference filed against the tenancy automatically.
- Do I have to go through a letting agent?
- No. RentFig sells tenant referencing directly to landlords — you order and pay online yourself, with no letting agent, agency contract or intermediary involved. That's not true of most well-known UK referencing brands: Goodlord, HomeLet, Let Alliance and Canopy are all agent-facing and either quote through a letting agent's account or don't offer a self-serve route for an individual landlord at all.
- Will a check affect my applicant's credit score?
- No. Every check uses a soft search, which is only visible to the applicant on their own credit file. It never affects their score, however many checks are run.
- How fast is RentFig tenant referencing?
- The credit check is quick — usually back within minutes, because it's fully automated against credit reference agency data. The full reference typically completes within 48 hours of the applicant responding, and often comes back the same day. The only reason it isn't instant is that it also needs a reply from the applicant's employer and previous landlord, which no provider can force to happen instantly — treat any 'instant full reference' claim with caution.
- Can I reference a guarantor as well as a tenant?
- Yes. Choose Guarantor when you order and they go through the same credit check or full reference, answering the guarantor questions on home ownership and income. Each person is a separate check, so referencing both a tenant and their guarantor means two orders — useful for student lets and first-time renters where a guarantor is carrying the affordability.
- What if the applicant fails referencing?
- The report gives you a clear verdict plus the detail behind it, so you can decide what to do next — decline, ask for a guarantor, or take a larger picture into account. Many landlords re-run affordability against a guarantor rather than losing an otherwise good tenant.
Not sure which route to take? See our guide to tenant referencing options, wondering what it should cost? See the cheapest tenant referencing in the UK or learn how to reference a tenant step by step.
Weighing us against another provider? We compare RentFig with OpenRent, Goodlord, HomeLet and Canopy — or see all comparisons.