Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Team from a report by PropertyWire. Read the original article for full details.
Tenant Referencing Gains Prominence as CCJs Rise 11.6% in England and Wales
Landlords across England and Wales are placing greater emphasis on tenant referencing following restrictions on advance rent payments and a significant rise in County Court Judgements (CCJs), according to new research. Data from Leaders shows almost half of landlords surveyed say tenant referencing has become more important since the ban on advance rent payments took effect.
Registry Trust figures reveal nearly 1.02 million new consumer CCJs were registered in England and Wales in 2025, an 11.6% annual increase and the highest annual total since 2019.
Rising Financial Pressure on Tenants
Separate analysis by LexisNexis Risk Solutions found that 3.14 million adults, approximately 6% of the adult population, have at least one CCJ or other negative financial event on their credit profile. With 12.9 million people living in the private rented sector, landlords face an increased likelihood of encountering applicants with adverse credit during referencing.
Under the Renters' Rights Act, Section 21 no-fault evictions have been removed and advance rent is restricted to one month. Landlords can no longer rely on financial buffers to manage risk after a tenancy begins, making pre-tenancy checks the primary protection mechanism.
How Landlords Are Responding
The Summer 2026 Lettings Report from Leaders shows 41.7% of landlords rely on their letting agent to manage the referencing process, the most common response among those surveyed. Some 37.4% say referencing has become significantly more important since the advance rent ban, with a further 7.8% saying it has become slightly more important. Only 13.1% report referencing was always their primary consideration and nothing has changed.
When choosing whether to accept a tenant application, employment status and income ranked first at 40.6%, followed by the referencing report provided by their letting agent at 38.8%. Together these account for nearly 80% of landlords surveyed.
Tenant Perspectives
From the tenant side, the picture appears less concerning: 82% of tenants surveyed say they have always passed referencing without issue. Among those refused, income level was the most common reason at 4%, followed by employment type at 2.2% and credit history at 1.6%.
On the value of rigorous checks, 36.8% of tenants say referencing benefits landlords and tenants equally, while 21% say it benefits landlords more but acknowledge some tenant benefit. Only 25.9% view it purely as a landlord protection tool.
Among landlords using professional agents, 41.7% say professional referencing produces generally or consistently better outcomes than other methods, with only 3.3% saying it performs worse.
Allison Thompson, Chief Lettings Officer at Leaders, part of LRG, said: "With advance rent no longer available, referencing has moved from being one tool among many to being the most important decision a landlord makes before a tenancy begins. The volume of CCJs and adverse credit markers in the population is rising, and landlords are right to take the referencing process seriously."
Source: PropertyWire