Referencing a prospective tenant has always meant leaving whatever system you actually manage the tenancy in — a separate provider, a separate login, an emailed PDF you then have to re-type into your own records once someone passes. Slatebase now runs the whole check from inside the app, and a pass turns straight into a tenancy record without you touching a form twice.
One request, four checks
Request a reference from a tenant's record or a property, and it covers everything a proper reference should:
- Right to Rent verification
- Credit check
- Employer reference
- Previous landlord reference
All four, from one request, run by Vorensys — a UK referencing specialist we've built directly into Slatebase rather than leaving you to juggle a separate account.
The applicant confirms it themselves — not you, on their behalf
This is the part we thought hardest about. It would have been simpler to let a landlord tick a box confirming "the applicant has agreed to this" and submit straight away. We didn't build it that way, because a landlord's word isn't the applicant's consent.
Instead, submitting a request doesn't start anything yet. The applicant gets emailed a link — no account needed — showing exactly what's being checked and by whom, with a straightforward "I consent" action of their own. Only once they've clicked it does the check actually begin. Decline, or don't respond, and nothing runs and nothing's charged.
Why this matters. It's the applicant's date of birth, address history, income and credit file being shared with a third party — they should be the ones agreeing to that, with a real record of when and how they did.
Live status, not a separate portal to check
Once the applicant's confirmed, you watch it progress from inside Slatebase: tenant form, credit check, Right to Rent, employer reference, previous landlord reference, each tracked individually as it comes back — no logging into someone else's dashboard to see where things stand.
A pass becomes a tenancy — one click
When a reference comes back a pass, an "Add to property" button appears on it. Click it and Slatebase creates the tenant and tenancy record pre-filled with what's already been collected — name, email, phone, property, rent — and takes you straight to generating the tenancy agreement. You're not retyping anything you've already been given, and you're not hunting for where to go next.
What it costs
Pay per applicant, not per subscription tier — credits don't expire and there's no minimum to buy:
One credit covers one applicant's full reference — Right to Rent, credit check, employer and previous landlord reference together, not sold separately. A credit is only used once a reference actually gets submitted, so buying a pack ahead of a busy letting season doesn't commit you to spending it.
This article describes how the feature works today. Turnaround for the employer and previous landlord reference depends on how quickly those third parties respond, so results aren't always same-day.