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kleintje wrote:

Long term British Expat thinking about returning 'home' for a bit. I left the UK 20+ years ago and have used my bank account sporadically since then. I decided to check my credit score but Clearscore, Experian etc couldn't find me.

How important is credit history/score when renting an apartment? Will work contracts suffice?

Essential if you're looking for credit; to answer your question, not sure there is a financial risk in renting property, that gets covered by the deposit you have to put down (normally cash).

Not looking for credit but I thought that a credit check was standard for landlords these days.

Google tells me they do; but need your permission.  You’re not the first person to come from abroad with no credit score, so it must be doable.

we were in a similar situation. Landlord asked us for 6-8 months of rent in advance as deposit since we had no references. we ended up applying for social housing. I had an excellent credit history in Guatemala however visa there is not the same as visa here. read here en/articles/how-to-improve-your-credit-rating and good luck!

Patty

A British expat can link its credit file to an address abroad, that's not a problem but you need to do it yourself. This can be done from an experian account - not sure about noddle etc.
The credit check which is run to rent an appartment is a soft one. All agencies use the same reference agents, who mainly check for CCJ or criminal record.
The credit file check is unrelated to proving your finances (which is based on work contract, pro references etc, and may involve showing a savings account if for ex. you don't work). Actually you could show a 5 score, you still have to prove. A work contract (and employer references) will be fine and updating your credit file with addresses from abroad will be a +.