Q. I AM desperate to find a property to rent but I have bad credit history and have already failed an application and lost my admin fee and holding deposit which was very expensive. How do I avoid this happening again?

Miss M, Cashes Green.

A. Adverse credit history is a big concern to landlords and agents for good reason as it demonstrates that you are not or have not been financially responsible. One of the main things landlords want to ensure is that you will always pay the rent.

For this reason all agents, and some private landlords, do credit checks as a part of the referencing process, a failed credit check will therefore result in a failed reference.

However, most landlords are reasonable people and, as I just mentioned, what they really want to know is that you are going to be financially responsible, so any way you can do these things will help.

Firstly be up-front and honest, explain to the agent or landlord what your position is, they will want to know when you accrued these debts, what they were for and what you have done or are doing to try to solve the problem and to pay back what you owe.

If you have had unpaid debts owing to utility companies or mobile phone companies whilst living at a previous address it is possible that you may have County Court Judgements for these debts which you may not be aware of, these should be avoided at all costs, pun intended; they will ruin your credit rating.

If you have one or more of these you need to contact the court who issued it to arrange to pay the debt owing, and then pay an additional fee to the court to have it removed from your record.

For free help and advice in dealing with debts you can contact the Citizen’s Advice Bureau, you can also do your own online credit check.

As for minimising the landlord’s risk, you will probably be asked to provide a guarantor. If you cannot provide a guarantor or if your adverse credit history is severe, you may be asked to provide a higher deposit.

Good previous landlord references can also help so make sure you always pay your rent on time and in full, a landlord reference stating rent arrears will certainly fail your next reference.

Please continue to send in your letting related questions to rose@sawyersestateagents.co.uk .