Tenants (council tenants, housing association tenants, private property tenants or folks living with their parents like student) are people who do not have their own house or residential property and live in somebody else’s house. As tenants are incapable of pledging collateral, the only option left for them is unsecured loans.

Though primarily designed for tenants, these loans can also be availed by homeowners or property owners, as they may not be willing to get into property related legalities or risk his property for a small amount.

It is a known fact that homeowners or property owners can easily take advantage of their assets to get favourable loan deals like quick attention, high credit limit, competitive low APR, flexible payback terms and negotiable loan conditions. However, tenants miss out on most of that.

Typically, unsecured loans for tenants are a bit expensive – low credit limit, comparatively high APR, fixed payback terms and non-negotiable loan conditions. However, these loans have other advantages that are not there with secured loans like:

• No collateral – no deposit against the loan amount

• Less paperwork – no red tape

• Quick service – fast loan processing

• No immediate risks in the event of repeated defaults or non-repayment

Unsecured loans for tenants are also ideal for people who have small monetary requirements, as offering collateral may not be necessary and for people who have urgent needs, as getting into lengthy property evaluation procedures may not be feasible.

These loans can be used for a variety low credit requirements – new or used car purchase, education or career development plans, wedding expenses, home improvement plans, vacation and holiday season expenses, business requirements, debt consolidation, bad credit, etc.

As with most loans, unsecured loans for tenants too have basic eligibility criteria. A person applying for this loan should:

• Have a savings account in the UK to which he makes regular payments

• Be in a full time employment

• Have lived at his current address for over a year

• Have made regular rent payments (not applicable in case of those living with their parents)

Please note: The basic criteria to avail an unsecured loan for tenant is – credit history and DTI ratio. In addition, the APR may vary according to the type and amount of loan required, and desired payback scheme and period.

Generally, an unsecured loan for tenant has an amount range of £500 to £15,000; an APR range of 7.4% to 41 % Variable (typical rate is 19.9% APR Variable) and a compensation term up to 10 years. A typical unsecured loan for tenants deal may look like:

• Amount borrowed → £5,000

• Payback duration → over 60 months

• APR (Average Percentage Rate) → 8.3%

• EMI (Estimated Monthly Instalment) → £101.59

• Total payback amount → £6,094.94