Being referenced by HomeLet
Before you can move into your new home, we’ll likely need to complete a reference for your letting agent and landlord.
70% of references will be completed in real-time by VISTA, which is our in-house, developed referencing solution.
Within VISTA’s Centres of Excellence, we have an expert team ready to process any applications which cannot be processed on the same day, as quickly as possible.
The VISTA process
Made up of four pillars, VISTA is an element of the HomeLet referencing process which was introduced in 2024 and developed in-house to provide the fairest affordability assessment based on your outgoing credit commitments and basic essential expenditures.
The 4 pillars of VISTA
1. Scorecard
The VISTA Scorecard evaluates your financial suitability for a property based on your:
- Credit commitments
- Individual attributes
- Overall indebtedness
What if I’ve experienced a poor credit history?
By assessing these factors in real-time, VISTA will avoid penalising you for historic indebtedness or having received a CCJ (county court judgment) if you have since rectified these payments.
While these factors are still reviewed, they only form part of the calculation to ensure the fairest assessment of your current financial situation.
2. Identification check
The VISTA ID check simply confirms that your ID can be matched to your address history. HomeLet has access to various data sources to make this process as efficient as possible.
What if I live overseas at the time of referencing?
Your identification can still be authenticated, but instead of being checked against UK databases, a member of our specialist team will assess your case and ask you to provide copies of your identity documentation.
3. Fraud check
Utilising AI and document forgery detection software, as well as our partnerships with fraud prevention agencies, VISTA provides the ultimate protection against rental fraud, which helps ensure you don’t have to compete with fraudsters when trying to secure your new home.
4. Income and affordability assessment
VISTA verifies your monthly income and cross-references this with the salary figure you stated in your application.
VISTA then assesses your credit commitments and basic expenditures, comparing this to your monthly income to determine whether the rent will be affordable to you.
Centres of Excellence
When the information required to complete your reference through VISTA cannot be obtained, then your application will be managed by our Centres of Excellence. Through this process, our experts will acquire the necessary data to meet our criteria and complete your reference.
The types of applications that could require manual intervention from the Centres of Excellence include applicants who are:
- Overseas
- Self-employed
- Living on independent means
- High rental value
Check your free credit report
As part of your tenant application, your credit report and score will be checked.
It’s a good idea to sign up for your free credit report with TotallyMoney, so you can see what is in your credit file and any factors that could be impacting you. You’ll see up to six years of your credit history, find out why your credit score is what it is, and get tips on how to improve it. Plus, it’s a good opportunity to check all the info on your report is correct.
If something’s not right, it doesn’t necessarily impact your tenancy application but you would need to raise a dispute with Totally Money directly.
Improving your credit score could make renting a home much simpler, now and in the future, as you’re more likely to pass your checks. What’s more, it’s totally free, forever. So, if you need to move again in the future, you can check your report again.
Get your free credit report.
Tracking your application
You can track your referencing application using your tenant portal. We’ll send you an email with all the login information, and then you need to visit the tenant portal to view progress. You can also send us a message about your application and share any documents with us if this is needed.
What happens when your application is complete?
Once we’ve finished the referencing process, your application will show as ‘Complete’ online. This means that the information has been sent back to your letting agent.
It’s important to remember that your letting agent may carry out some additional checks after we’ve returned your reference, so please wait for them to contact you about your application for the property.