21st
Jun 2023
Comparethemarket’s website has put together a list of what it says are the most used lies by prospective tenants on applications and some of the areas where the practice is used the most.
The comparison website says around 26 per cent of private renters that took part in the survey have owned up to lying on a home rental application, whilst 39 per cent would most certainly weigh up the situation and if necessary would lie in a future application.
The most likely age group to be ‘creative’ with the truth are between 16 to 34 years old as 43 per cent owned up to lying on a rental home application, the age group least likely to resort to this practice are 55s and over with just 10 per cent admitting to doing this.
The research has also uncovered that numbers of applicants bending the truth on rental applications is differs from cities, such as 37 per cent of Newcastle tenants have resorted to lying on applications, with Norwich just a ‘whisker away’ with 36 per cent and then Manchester with 35 per cent.
The research ‘crowns’ Plymouth as having the most honest applicants as just 5 per cent owned up to lying on their rental applications.
.The comparison website has also listed the most common ‘lies’ used on rental home applications, as ‘not smokers’ comes out on top.
The majority of landlords do not wish to house smokers because of the damage and associated costs with one in twelve tenants having ‘forgotten’ about being a smoker in an application.
The second most common lie used in applications is when answering the pet question as 11 per cent said they are pondering over whether to lie about their pet in a future application.
Another common lie on a home application is to ‘inflate’ income, with 6 per cent admitting to lying about their wages and a further 10 per cent said they will consider doing this in the future.
Five per cent owned up to being ‘creative’ about their job status/role on a rental application.
A spokeswoman for Comparethemarket says: “Surprisingly, almost one-third of renters are unaware of the implications that lying on a rental application form could have. While these do differ depending on the situation, the likelihood is that if you’re caught lying, your application will be rejected. If your application is discovered fraudulent after you have moved into the property, there may also be grounds for eviction.
“For landlords, there are a few ways in which you can try to avoid accepting dishonest tenants. Completing a thorough reference check is really important, especially one that looks at employment history, credit checks, and previous landlords as this helps build a better picture of your potential new tenants.
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