Student House - Guarantor advice

[Ruthy1604]

Hi

Just after some advice from knowledgeable people. DS (at Uni) wants to rent a house with his mates next year and has sent me the tenancy agreement. He needs me to be guarantor, but as I read it, he (& therefore me) will be liable jointly and severably for the rent for the whole house
The landlord also reserves the right to chase any guarantor for payment even if they haven't chased the individual tenant.

So, the way I read this, if one of them doesn't pay, they will chase up the easiest target for the money. This worries me as my job means I cannot be a bad debtor. Some of the other students are from overseas so might be more difficult to chase for any arrears.

Is this normal ?

Ds is upset because my refusal may mean that he cannot live the uni life he was hoping for I feel like a horrible parent.

Any advice appreciated

Ruth

[Bozza]

Interesting question, particularly as I agreed to be my daughter's guarantor just this week for her second-year house next August.

I didn't really think through the full consequences, such as the scenario you outline - my assumption was my maximum liability was for her portion of the rent and, as I pay that anyway, I'd not be liable for anything more than I already am.

I suspect you're in a difficult position in that the landlord will not change the terms of his agreement as, if you refuse to sign it, the way most university towns are is that there'll be plenty of other prospective tenants about who will sign it.

Sorry - I appreciate that's not offering much in the way of help.

[novocastrian]

Tricky one

No one elses parent in prepared/able to do it ?

[Bozza]

Originally Posted by novocastrian

Tricky one

No one elses parent in prepared/able to do it ?

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Everyone will have to sign the same agreement and provide guarantors, but I think the point here is there is unpaid rent, the landlord will go after the parent(s) most likely to get him his money. And if some parents are based overseas, the UK parent(s) are easiest to go for.

All my daughters prospective housemates are UK nationals, so I don't have that same potential complication.

[Welsh_Dragon]

Unfortunately this it the way student landlords operate. Each parent will be jointly and severally liable for the entirety of any debt and the landlords will take the easiest route. One option is to offer to pay your son’s entire share of the rent upfront.
Regrettably, if you don’t agree to the landlord’s terms your son will struggle to find a student house and you may end up having to find him a one person flat.

[Ruthy1604]

Originally Posted by novocastrian

Tricky one

No one elses parent in prepared/able to do it ?

See more...

I think they are expecting each tenant to provide a guarantor, but it will be easier to chase a UK based parent than one based overseas.

[Ruthy1604]

Originally Posted by Welsh_Dragon

Unfortunately this it the way student landlords operate. Each parent will be jointly and severally liable for the entirety of any debt and the landlords will take the easiest route. One option is to offer to pay your son’s entire share of the rent upfront.
Regrettably, if you don’t agree to the landlord’s terms your son will struggle to find a student house and you may end up having to find him a one person flat.

See more...

Thanks for your advice - this is what I am fearing. I might offer to pay upfront and see if they will waive the guarantor requirement.

[novocastrian]

Originally Posted by Ruthy1604

I think they are expecting each tenant to provide a guarantor, but it will be easier to chase a UK based parent than one based overseas.

See more...

ah right each tenant needs a guarantor

[megaflyer]

Originally Posted by Ruthy1604

Thanks for your advice - this is what I am fearing. I might offer to pay upfront and see if they will waive the guarantor requirement.

See more...

If you pay upfront for the whole term of the contract then they won't want a guarantor (unless to cover any damage ?) otherwise yes they can will chase one parent for the whole cost of the house - its quicker and cheaper (and legal) that way - it will then be up to said parent (eg you) to prove & recover any costs from other renters/guarantors in civil proceeding; even with parents in UK that can be trickier than it looks

[Kenwood]

My son is currently in his 4th year at Uni, he graduated from his first 3 years this week.
His first year was in Halls, so no guarantor was needed. The 2nd, 3rd and now his 4th all needed a guarantor agreement for each different property.
I absolutely hate the idea of being a guarantor as I don’t like to be held responsible for debts you have no control over. I go through each agreement with a fine tooth comb, and some of the things you may be responsible can be far beyond just the portion of the rent.
All the agreements I’ve signed so far though, only attribute one portion of the rent as liability to me. Also, the same share of any other debt which may arise during the tenancy.
There was one place he looked at and the guarantor agreement was asking for my bank details so they could raid my account whenever they needed! Needless to say, that one was crossed off the list at my insistence.

The single most thing which annoys me more than anything is that as these houses are rented to a number of students from separate households, they should be treated as houses of multiple occupancy (HMO). This would mean that each tenant gets a separate unique agreement which only covers their share. In order to get around this, they generally have a “Lead Tenant” who is the sole tenant who deals with the landlord/agency as far as communications and rental payments. The other students in the household need to pay their money to the lead tenant, who then submits a single payment to the landlord/agency. This makes the property look like it’s a sole tenant renting it, with others living there.
The properties my son has been in are rented as though it’s a family home, with one designated lead tenant. There are no locks on any individual bedrooms as I think there should be for security, but having this then steers towards the definition of HMO which opens a whole new world of regulations for the landlord (eg. installing powered fire alarm systems).

I can’t wait for him to finish this 4th year and I can say goodbye to guarantor agreements... well until my daughter goes to Uni, then it will all start again.