Renting with an IVA

Yes, you can get an IVA if you’re renting from a private landlord. But it’s important to check your rental agreement before going ahead. There might be a clause that means you could be evicted if you enter an IVA or another insolvency solution. 

If an insolvency clause is the only thing stopping you going ahead with an IVA, it may be a good idea to talk to your landlord. If you’ve been a good tenant, they may be willing to let you stay in your home even if you enter an IVA.

If there isn’t an insolvency clause in your rental agreement, your tenancy won’t usually be affected by an IVA. 

This depends on whether your IVA includes rent arrears.

If your IVA includes rent arrears

It’s unusual for rent arrears from privately rented properties to be included in an IVA, as that could put you at risk of eviction. 

But if arrears for your current property are included in your IVA, your landlord will be told about your debt solution. This is because your landlord is one of the creditors who’ll be asked if they agree to the terms of your IVA. 

Your landlord won’t be told about your IVA if you have rent arrears for a previous address.

If your IVA doesn’t include rent arrears

If your IVA doesn’t include rent arrears for your current property, your landlord won’t be informed about your IVA by your insolvency practitioner. But there’s still a small chance they could find out about your debt solution. 

When you start an IVA, your information will be added to the public individual insolvency register. This is generally only checked by financial institutions, like banks and building societies, and credit reference agencies. But in theory, there’s nothing to stop anyone carrying out a search.

Details on the register don’t show up on internet search engines, so people won’t discover you have an IVA after entering your name in Google. You need to search the register directly for someone’s details and it’s unusual for landlords to do that.

Another way landlords might find out about your IVA is if they carry out a credit check. They may do this before renewing your tenancy. If this happens and they find out you have an IVA, they won’t necessarily ask you to leave. They may be happy to let you stay in your home if you’ve been a good tenant and always paid your rent on time. 

An IVA affects your credit score. This means it might be harder for you to rent another property from a landlord who carries out credit checks.  

Landlords won’t necessarily refuse to rent to you if they find out you have an IVA, but they may ask you for a guarantor, a higher deposit or advance rental payments. 

A landlord may also be more willing to rent to you if you’re taking out a joint tenancy with someone with a better credit rating. 

If you live in a council or housing association property, your landlord won’t be told about your IVA. Councils and housing associations aren’t usually concerned about your credit rating as long as they’re happy you’ll be able to pay your rent on time. This also means it should be easier to move to a council or housing association property during your IVA.

You may be able to include rent arrears from your current council or housing association home in your IVA. 

As long as you make sure you pay the rent moving forward, you’re unlikely to be evicted. But it’s important to check this with the council or housing association concerned before you go ahead with an IVA.

An IVA stays on your credit report for six years from the date it’s approved. During this time you may find it harder to rent from landlords who carry out credit checks.

Renting should become easier after your IVA has dropped off your credit file and you can start to rebuild your credit score.