For renters
How do I share my renter profile with a landlord in England?
You send it yourself. There is no national renter profile in England, and no central register a landlord can look you up on, so a renter profile is only ever as portable as the way you send it. In practice that means one of three things: a single document you email, a link from wherever the profile is held, or a form inside a letting agent's own portal. You decide when it goes and who gets it.
What follows is what usually goes into one, what is better held back until a particular home is actually on the table, why Right to Rent sits outside all of this, and what a landlord may not charge you for. This guide covers England; the position differs in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
What a renter profile is, and what it is not
A renter profile goes by several names. Some sites call it a tenant profile, some call it a rental CV or a renting résumé, and plenty of people simply keep a document on their phone. They all mean the same thing: the details you end up repeating to every landlord, gathered in one place so you are not rewriting them at eleven o'clock at night for the fourth property this week.
It is worth being clear about what it is not, because the two get confused and the confusion costs people money. A renter profile is not referencing. Referencing is a paid service a landlord or letting agent orders from a provider, and it produces a report about you that the landlord reads. A profile is the opposite direction of travel: it is written by you, held by you, and sent by you. Nothing about it is a decision, a score or a result. No profile, on any platform, can promise anyone a home.
It is also not proof of anything on its own. A landlord who wants evidence of income or identity asks for the documents behind the summary at the point it matters, which is normally after a viewing and once a specific property is being discussed.
The three ways people share one today
| How | What actually happens | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| One document, by email or message | You write a PDF or a document and attach it | Works with every landlord, including a private landlord with no systems at all. Once it is sent you cannot unsend it, and old versions stay in people's inboxes |
| A link from a site or app | The platform holds the profile and gives you a web address to pass on | One copy stays current, so a landlord who opens it later sees what you have since corrected. Read what the platform does with your details before you start, and check whether the link can be switched off |
| A letting agent's own portal | You fill in the agent's form, usually after a viewing | That copy belongs to the agent's system, not to you, and you get asked for the same details again at the next agent |
None of these is a standard. That is the honest answer to the question, and it is why the same information gets typed out again and again across a single search.
What usually belongs in a renter profile
| What | Why a landlord asks | When to send it |
|---|---|---|
| Name, phone number, email address | To reply to you at all | First contact |
| Who would be living there, including children and pets | Occupancy, and under the Renters' Rights Act 2025 a pet request has to be considered on its merits | First contact |
| Employment, and roughly what you earn | To weigh affordability against the rent | First contact, as a figure rather than as documents |
| Move-in date and how long you are looking for | To match against when the home is free | First contact |
| Previous landlord or employer who can speak for you | References, once things are serious | Name them early, hand over contact details later |
| Payslips, bank statements, identity documents | Evidence behind the summary | After a viewing, for one specific property |
| Right to Rent share code and date of birth | The landlord's own legal duty, before a tenancy begins | Last, and only to the landlord or agent you are renting from |
What to hold back until a home is actually on the table
The ordering in that last column is the part most guides skip. Sending a friendly summary to ten landlords is sensible. Sending ten landlords a passport scan, a bank statement and a date of birth is ten copies of everything somebody would need to impersonate you, sitting in ten inboxes you have no control over, for a search that ends with nine of them never hearing from you again.
A useful line to hold: a summary travels widely, evidence travels narrowly. Say what you earn in the profile, and send the payslip when one particular home is being discussed. Say that you have a previous landlord who is happy to be contacted, and give their number when a reference is actually being taken.
Two things should never be part of getting a reply. No landlord or agent may charge a fee to consider you, beyond a holding deposit once a property is taken off the market, capped at one week's rent. And identity documents are for a real tenancy, not for a first enquiry. If either is asked for early, that is the moment to slow down, look up the property independently, and check who you are dealing with. Action Fraud takes reports, and Shelter and Citizens Advice give free advice. Our guide on how to check whether a landlord really owns the property covers what you can look up yourself before any money changes hands.
Right to Rent is a separate thing, and it is the landlord's duty
People often assume the Right to Rent check is part of a profile. It is not, and the difference matters. In England a landlord must check that every adult who will live in the property has the right to rent, before the tenancy begins. That duty belongs to the landlord, not to you and not to any platform. A landlord may appoint an agent, but a renter profile is not that.
Your side of it is short. If your immigration status is held digitally, you generate a share code free on GOV.UK and give it to the landlord with your date of birth. It lasts 90 days and you can use the same one as many times as you need before it expires. British and Irish citizens normally prove their right to rent with a passport instead, which may be current or expired. Our guide to what a Right to Rent share code is and how to get one sets out who needs which, and how Right to Rent works for tenants in England covers the check itself.
Because the code is short-lived and made for a Right to Rent check, keep it out of a profile you circulate. Generate it when a prospective landlord or their agent asks for it.
What happens to your details once you have sent them
A landlord or agent who receives your details is responsible for them under UK data protection law. In broad terms that means telling you what they are doing with the information, keeping it only as long as they have a reason to, and keeping it securely. You can ask an organisation what it holds about you, ask for mistakes to be corrected, and ask for information to be deleted when there is no longer a reason to keep it. The Information Commissioner's Office explains those rights and how to complain if an organisation will not engage.
In practice, the more copies of a document exist, the less any of this helps you. That is the strongest argument for sending a summary widely and evidence narrowly: it is easier to keep track of four payslips sent to one landlord than forty sent to ten.
No landlord or agent may charge you
Under the Tenant Fees Act 2019, a landlord or letting agent in England cannot charge a tenant or a prospective tenant for referencing, credit checks, admin fees, inventory fees, viewing fees or drawing up the tenancy agreement. Those are prohibited payments. That is the law for tenancies within the Act's scope in England.
A Right to Rent share code is free on GOV.UK as well. So if you are asked for a fee outside the permitted list, something has gone wrong: our guide on whether a landlord can charge you for referencing covers the permitted list and how to get a banned fee back. If you want to know what a landlord may and may not ask you in the first place, what landlords can and cannot ask when you rent goes through it, and the renter document checklist for England lists what tends to get requested.
Common questions
How do I share my renter profile with a landlord in England?
You send it to them yourself. There is no national renter profile in England and no central register a landlord can look you up on, so a renter profile is only ever as portable as the way you send it. In practice there are three routes: one document, usually a PDF, sent by email or messaging app; a link generated by whatever site or app holds the profile, which the landlord opens; or a form inside a letting agent's own portal, which is the agent's system rather than yours. Whichever route you use, you decide when to send it and to whom. A landlord in England cannot charge for referencing or administration, which are prohibited payments.
What should I include in a renter profile?
Enough to answer the obvious questions without handing over your whole life. Who you are and how to reach you; who else would be living there, including children and pets; what you do and roughly what you earn; when you want to move in and for how long; and who can speak for you as a previous landlord or employer. Identity documents, bank statements and a Right to Rent share code are a separate step that belongs later, once a particular home is actually on the table, rather than in a profile you send to several landlords at once.
Is it safe to send my documents to a landlord before a viewing?
Sending a summary of who you are before a viewing is normal. Sending passport scans, bank statements or a deposit is not. A landlord may lawfully ask for a holding deposit before a tenancy is agreed, but treat an early request for identity documents or other money with care. Right to Rent checks have set timing, and a viewing is not the trigger. If a request feels wrong, Action Fraud takes reports, and Shelter and Citizens Advice both give free advice.
Can a landlord charge me for a renter profile or for referencing?
No. Under the Tenant Fees Act 2019 a landlord or letting agent in England cannot charge a tenant or prospective tenant for referencing, credit checks, admin, inventories, viewings or drawing up the tenancy agreement. Those are prohibited payments. A Right to Rent share code is also free to generate on GOV.UK. The rules differ in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, so check the current position on GOV.UK for where you are renting.
Write it once, and keep it yours
The repetition is the real complaint. Four homes in a week means four versions of the same paragraph, four sets of attachments, and no record of what went where. VEYLO X is a software platform for renting and letting in England. The platform is not open yet. What we have built here is deliberately narrow: a renter writes their own profile, in their own words, and it stays theirs to keep and to send. VEYLO X is a neutral platform. It does not carry out referencing, does not assess anyone, does not score or rank renters, and takes no part in whether a tenancy goes ahead. The renter profile is free for renters to set up and keep, and when it goes to a landlord is your decision, not ours.
Sources
The primary sources behind this guide. Where the law and a summary disagree, the law is what counts.