FKINP OpenRent offers a published one-off price, Goodlord supports in-house and managed referencing, HomeLet VISTA targets letting agents, and FLS offers pay-as-you-use credit reports.[4][5][6][7]
Compare tenant referencing services
OpenRent
Buyer: Suited to a landlord purchasing a standalone tenant or guarantor reference.[6]
Model: A reference costs £30 including VAT per applicant as a one-off payment and requires the applicant’s name, email address and phone number.[6]
Checks: OpenRent describes collecting document scans and Right to Rent support.[6] Specify whether the service performs the prescribed check or only collects information. Use the applicable official checking route and record who is responsible.[1]
Goodlord/NRLA
Buyer: Goodlord serves landlords and letting agents, while NRLA offers Goodlord-powered referencing packages.[3][4]
Model: Essential is the lighter service, Control/Vouch supports in-house referencing, PRO is managed by Goodlord, and Priority adds faster handling.[4]
Checks: Essential includes credit and identity checks; Control adds residential checks, Open Banking income checks and insurability; PRO and Priority add HMRC or payroll checks, proactive contact and referencing decisions.[4]
HomeLet VISTA
Buyer: HomeLet presents VISTA as a service for letting agents.[7]
Model: The service includes specialist handling for overseas applicants and cases requiring manual work.[7]
Checks: Published features include full-credit-file checks, politically exposed person and sanctions screening, biometric identity verification, Open Banking and HMRC income verification, affordability assessments and fraud-database searches.[7]
FLS
Buyer: FLS serves landlords and managing agents.[5]
Model: Its landlord service is described as pay-as-you-use.[5]
Checks: The cited page confirms credit reports but does not provide enough package detail for a feature-by-feature comparison.[5]
Provider-reported turnaround figures are not directly comparable. NRLA reports an average return of 26 hours, with one in three references completed instantly; HomeLet says more than 70% of applications are completed within 24 hours.[3][7]
What does tenant referencing check?
Goodlord identifies four core areas: identity, credit, residential history, and income and affordability.[4] Credit checks may cover outstanding debts, payment history, County Court Judgments, bankruptcy or insolvency records and address history.[4]
Where included, employment checks may verify salary, occupation and employment length. Previous-landlord checks may confirm tenancy dates, rent, payment timeliness and property care.[6] Identity-document authentication, fraud searches, politically exposed person and sanctions screening, landlord references and Right to Rent support vary by package.[3][4][6][7]
Open Banking checks require the applicant to have online or mobile banking.[4]
Who pays for tenant referencing in England?
For a tenancy covered by England’s Tenant Fees Act rules, budget for the landlord or letting agent to buy ordinary referencing rather than charge a separate applicant referencing fee. Current government guidance lists permitted payments; a fee outside that list is prohibited.[2]
The landlord/agent guide, updated in July 2026, applies to covered England tenancies and licences. It identifies exclusions including social housing assured tenancies, shared-ownership leases, short holiday lets, excluded licences and annual rents above £100,000.[2] Check the actual tenancy type; do not describe this rule as UK-wide.
A refundable holding deposit has separate rules and is not a referencing service charge.[2] Record the payer in the provider order and check any third-party product or guarantor arrangement separately. Provider marketing does not replace the applicable legal guidance.
Which Right to Rent duties remain with the landlord?
Right to Rent applies to residential property in England, not throughout the United Kingdom.[1] Before a tenancy begins, the landlord must check every tenant or lodger aged 18 or over who will occupy the property as a main home. This includes unnamed occupiers and arrangements without a written tenancy agreement.[1]
A check can be completed through one of three routes:[1]
- examining acceptable original documents;
- using a registered Digital Verification Service; or
- using the Home Office online service when the applicant provides a share code.
For a manual check, the landlord must obtain the originals, inspect them while the applicant is present, assess whether they are genuine and belong to that person, make an unalterable copy and record the check date.[1] Records must be kept throughout the tenancy and for one year afterwards, with data-protection law observed.[1]
A tenant with time-limited permission may require a follow-up check. If that check shows the occupier can no longer rent legally, the landlord must report this to the Home Office.[1]
An agent may perform the landlord’s check when the arrangement is documented in writing.[1] Record the service, evidence retained and follow-up owner. A referencing package does not necessarily transfer every duty; a vendor’s in-person wording should not obscure an available official digital or online route.
Every new tenant must be checked without selecting people based on perceived nationality; discrimination based on origin is prohibited.[1]
Who makes the final tenancy decision?
A provider’s report supports the decision but does not make it. Goodlord describes its model as “AI does the checks. You make the call” and says its report helps the landlord or agent decide whether to proceed.[4] OpenRent likewise presents referencing as information for the landlord’s suitability decision.[6]
Keep referencing separate from Right to Rent compliance. A collected scan or identity score alone does not prove completion of the prescribed check. Identify the applicable manual, eligible digital-verification or Home Office online route and retain its required evidence.[1]
What to confirm with each provider
Only OpenRent states a numeric price on its cited page: £30 including VAT for each tenant or guarantor.[6] The cited Goodlord, NRLA, HomeLet and FLS pages do not state numeric prices or a complete set of contract terms.[3][4][5][7]; the cited OpenRent page does not state its contract length, minimum volume, renewal, cancellation or refund terms.[6]
- Coverage: Request written confirmation of the identity, credit, affordability, income, residential-history and previous-landlord checks included.
- Price: Obtain the total VAT-inclusive cost, including charges for manual or overseas cases and any required volume.
- Timing: Ask how turnaround time is measured and how exceptions are handled.
- Contract: Check the minimum term, renewal, cancellation and refund conditions, including treatment of failed, withdrawn or abandoned applications.
- Data: Request the provider’s privacy information, lawful-basis explanation, retention schedule, security details and process for applicant queries.
- Right to Rent: Record who completes each check, stores the evidence and schedules any follow-up.[1]
- Decision-making: Use the report as evidence rather than treating the provider’s result as an automatic verdict.[4][6]
References
- gov.uk (gov.uk)
- GOV.UK: fees you can charge as part of a tenancy, updated 7 July 2026 (gov.uk)
- NRLA Tenant Referencing | NRLA (nrla.org.uk)
- The UK’s Best Tenant Referencing Company | Goodlord (goodlord.com)
- Home – FLS Tenant Referencing (tenantref.co.uk)
- Tenant Referencing & Credit Checks | OpenRent (openrent.co.uk)
- Letting Agents Referencing | Tenant Referencing | HomeLet (homelet.co.uk)