Finding a rental home in 2026 can feel like applying for a job you are expected to pay thousands of pounds to get.
You find the property.
You can afford the rent.
You want to make it your home.
Then come the questions.
What do you earn? Are you employed? Do you receive Universal Credit? Can you provide a guarantor? How much do you have saved? Can you pass referencing?
For many perfectly capable tenants, that is where the door closes.
At DSS Select, we think the rental market needs to get better at distinguishing between a tenant who cannot afford a property and a tenant who simply does not fit a traditional referencing model.
They are not the same thing.
Rents Have Kept Rising
The affordability problem is real.
According to the Office for National Statistics, the average private rent in England reached £1,459 per month in August 2026, up 4.0% in a year.
For a tenant, that is not an abstract percentage.
It is another £50 or £60 a month that has to come from somewhere.
Add council tax, energy, food, travel and childcare and the pressure becomes obvious.
So affordability checks have a purpose. Nobody benefits from placing someone into a tenancy they cannot sustain.
But affordability needs to be assessed intelligently.
A Payslip Does Not Tell the Whole Story
Traditional referencing works well for traditional circumstances.
The problem is that people’s lives are not always traditional.
Someone may be:
· Self-employed
· Receiving Universal Credit
· Working variable hours
· Starting a new job
· Moving from supported accommodation
· Receiving financial assistance from family
· Recently separated
· Retired
· Unable to provide a conventional guarantor
None of those circumstances automatically tells you whether that person will be a good tenant.
A computer can reject an application in seconds.
Understanding the applicant takes longer.
We think the industry should make the effort.
Tenants Need to Understand Affordability Too
There is another side to this.
Tenants should not stretch themselves beyond what they can realistically afford simply because the housing market is difficult.
Getting the keys is not the objective.
Keeping the keys is.
Before taking a property, work out the full monthly cost.
Not just the rent.
Include council tax, electricity, gas, water, broadband, travel and your normal household expenditure.
Then leave some breathing room.
If paying the rent depends on everything going perfectly every month, the property may not actually be affordable.
That is not a pleasant message. It is an important one.
What Should You Have Ready?
In a competitive rental market, being organised matters.
Have your identification ready. Know your income. Understand what benefits you receive. Have recent bank statements or payslips available where required. If you have a previous landlord reference, keep it accessible.
If there is something unusual about your circumstances, explain it early.
Do not wait until referencing fails.
If you receive support towards your rent, tell the agent what support you receive and how it works.
If a council, charity or support worker is assisting you, provide their contact details.
If you can offer a guarantor, say so.
A complicated application is much easier to assess when the information is clear from the beginning.
Agents Need to Change Too
The industry cannot put all the responsibility on tenants.
Agents and landlords need to ask better questions.
“Does this applicant pass a standard reference?” is one question.
It should not always be the only one.
We should also be asking:
Can this person realistically afford the property?
Is there evidence that they have maintained previous accommodation successfully?
Is there external support available?
Could a deposit or rent guarantee reduce the landlord’s risk?
Is there a workable tenancy here?
That is a more intelligent approach.
Receiving Benefits Should Not End the Conversation
DSS Select was created around a simple principle: tenants should be considered on their actual circumstances.
That does not mean every applicant will be suitable for every property.
It means the assessment should be meaningful.
A tenant receiving Universal Credit may have a stable housing history and a realistic budget.
A tenant earning a high salary can still default.
Labels are shortcuts. Good lettings decisions require more than shortcuts.
We Need More Transparency
Tenants also deserve to know where they stand.
If a property requires a particular affordability level, say so.
If a landlord requires a guarantor in certain circumstances, explain it.
If there are documents an applicant will need, tell them before they apply.
There is little value in allowing someone to spend days pursuing a property they were never realistically going to be considered for.
A better rental market does not promise every applicant a home.
It gives applicants a fair opportunity to demonstrate that they can sustain one.
That distinction matters.
The DSS Select View
Renting is already expensive.
The process of finding a home should not make it unnecessarily harder.
Tenants need to be realistic about affordability and prepared to demonstrate how the rent will be paid.
Landlords are entitled to understand the financial risk involved.
Agents have a responsibility to assess applications properly.
Those three things can coexist.
At DSS Select, we want to see a rental market that asks a better question than simply:
“Does this tenant fit the usual box?”
The question should be:
“Can we make this tenancy work?”
Sometimes the answer will be no.
But far more often than the industry assumes, the answer could be yes.
