A new service to help landlords identify troublesome tenants has been launched from an office in South London by Steve Hanbury as an additional branch to his family’s buy to let business.

Hanbury said this involvement in the rental business was behind the idea of starting the Tenants’ History website service (www.tenantshistory.co.uk) that he hopes will benefit both landlords and tenants.

He said: “We have got a portfolio of some 50 properties and therefore we have dealt with the good and not-so-good tenants, which means we have lost huge amounts of money in the past.”

The primary aim of the website will be to help landlords and letting agents avoid problems of being landed with tenants who could cause them problems.

Landlords joining the scheme will be able to register their tenants, helping to build a detailed portfolio that can be examined by others.

Under the scheme, landlords will also be able to rate tenants on a scale of one to five, covering what are considered to be good tenants.

There will be a separate rating of six to eight for tenants not considered to be good enough for a ‘pass’, but landlords will have to provide firm evidence of reasons for a low rating before it will go on to the site.

Ratings will be provided when tenants move, giving other landlords an indication of a tenant’s history should they approach them to take out a new tenancy. Tenants will have the right to view their rating and challenge it if necessary.

But Hanbury said he believes tenants would also benefit if they persuaded their landlord to register them with the scheme, particularly if they received a rating at the time of a move.

He said: “There are websites which set out to identify bad tenants – we are not one of those. We believe that tenants with a good rating under our scheme will be able to impress future landlords, which will make it easier for them to find a new tenancy when they need it.”

Hanbury also stated: “We as landlords are always last to know if a tenant is looking to move, therefore if a perspective landlord was to search one of my tenants who’d approached them in response to their advert, let’s say, I will get an e-mail from Tenants History stating that my tenant has been searched, therefore go and inspect the property and approach the tenant.

“Let them know that, you know, they are looking to move. This may stop the tenant from leaving the property in a mess and maybe doing a runner.”