How to recover from bad credit and a bad renting experience?

Hiya !

TD:LR at the end if you don't feel like reading all of this but I felt context was important for this case.

So back in 2020, just before Brexit I moved to Scotland, as you recall it was right during the second lockdown as well. It wasn't the best conditions but I didn't have a choice as the rule was you needed to be in the UK before the 31rst of December to be able to apply for pre-settled status and stay in the UK without a visa.

But moving there during the lockdown meant that I had to find a work from home job in customer service and my roommate ended up moving back to France after a few months which meant I ended up completely isolated and getting yelled at by people 40h a week. My only social interactions was gaming online.

So I fell into a really bad depression. Even after lockdown lifted I stayed blocked isolated at home. I ended up losing my job, or rather I quit just before a disciplinary hearing because I was avoiding calls, late all the time and called in sick a lot. I really neglected my apartment. To a point where eventually I just wanted out and moved out to the Netherlands to live with my boyfriend and recover.

I never payed my last gas or wifi bill and was so alone and out of money that I had to leave all my furniture in the flat and left it a bit of a mess. I couldn't move the furniture by myself, couldn't pay movers to do so and didn't have the mental capacity to sell it all either. So the landlord understandably kept the whole deposit. My car had been idle for so long the brakes weren't working and I realized that I had never received the paperwork in my name meaning I couldn't sell it, so I ended up having to abandon it on a parking spot next to the car buying place (I had it transported there).

3 years later I'm doing a lot better now, have recovered, got another job, a promotion ect.

I thought that living in the UK was off the table but just learned that they are now automatically expending pre-settled status for an extra 5 years and my current one is valid until January 2026 which gives me another shot. (I need to live 5 years in the UK to then get settled status)

My problem is that I'm worried about how I left. My credit score is probably down to the zeros (I tried but can't check it online while being overseas) and while I don't need any credit card or loans, I'm worried about finding a place to rent with that kind of history.

So my questions are :

• what info do landlords have when they run a credit check ?
• if I mention living in Scotland, will they contact my previous landlord ?
• if I don't and pretend I just moved from the Netherlands, will they find out I lived here before and will they contact my previous landlord?
• Should I be upfront about what happened?
• will my credit score affect my job hunting ?
• will they be able to tell I was suspended with pay and scheduled for a disciplinary hearing at my last UK job even If I quit before it happened?
• is it even remotely possible to recover from this ?
• If anyone ever live through something like this and has some insight to share ?

Lastly a bit out of topic but is the housis crisis just as bad in Northern Ireland than in Ireland ? Haven't made up my mind on where in the UK to go if I do decide to.

Thank you very much 🙏

TD;RL : 3 years ago I got really depressed, lost my job and left Scotland leaving my apartment in a mess and never paid a few last bills. Is it possible to recover from it and move back ?