If you rent your home and you need to borrow money with an unsecured loan, a tenant loan may be easier to get than you think.

In the past, lenders have tended not to cater for tenants because of their concerns about what may happen should their borrowers default. In the vast majority of cases, this fear has not been fully justified.

Property prices have soared in recent years, taking many people further away from their dream of owning their own home, whilst others prefer to rent because it allows them more flexibility over where they live, particularly when their job requires them to move fairly frequently. House prices are constantly in the news and a whole industry has mushroomed with property speculators eager to make a financial killing on the capital asset growth that is sure to follow. Unfortunately, this doesn't really help if you're looking to get onto the property ladder and as a result, thousands of would-be first time buyers seem to be being edged further and further away from their dream of owning their own home.

Greater numbers of people looking for tenant loans have made the UK lenders sit up and take more notice, so more and more tenants are now able to get their unsecured loan than ever before. Interest rates are more competitive and there are even flexible payment options on certain plans.

So what can tenant loans be used for?

• buying a new car or motorbike

• going on a fantastic holiday

• consolidating debts

• a fabulous wedding with all the trimmings, or even

• when considering buying your own home

In fact, you can use the money for just about any personal use. If you're looking to use the money on a commercial venture however, you may find more difficulty in securing the funds.

Who can apply?

You can probably think of many more uses for unsecured tenant loans but whatever your loan purpose, you may still find that getting a tenant loan is much easier now than in the past and any type of tenant can apply:-

• council tenants

• private tenants

• housing association tenants, or even

• tenants living with parents

There are a few questions that may need to be asked since the lender has a set of criteria that they will need to meet but it may only take a moment to complete a tenant loan enquiry online, so don't worry. You should get everything in writing from your provider and when you have completed and signed the credit agreement, provided you have met all of the criteria set by the lender, your tenant loan should complete within a few days. Simple!

If you are in the market for tenant loans, go ahead and give it a try. You never know!