AIBU not to be guarantor for DC?

[usermane]

DC is in first year at Uni, and currently trying to secure accommodation for next year.
He's found a studio flat and is planning to share it with his DP (also a student).
The rent is ~£14k a year(!) They can probably just about manage that between them, but neither one could afford that alone.
He's asked me to be a guarantor, but I am VERY uncomfortable with this. I can barely afford my own rent as it is... and I really don't want to risk getting into that kind of debt should things go wrong (i.e. they split up, one or both drop out, they piss all their rent money away etc.).
I feel horrible about it, but would I be unreasonable to tell him no?

Ha ha. Laughing at your ds who clearly has 'high expectations' to live in a swanky flat for £1200!

I would ask him to find a cheaper place if possible and make sure that you were only responsible for his portion of the rent. However, I disagree with those so you shouldn't be a guarantor under any circumstances. The fact is that he may not be able to find anywhere to live if he doesn't have a guarantor. It's not correct that you need to be a homeowner.

I think you have to qualify to be a guarantor. You have to be able to prove you can afford your rent/mortgage and theirs.

For parents of students they often don't seem to do that. I just signed and no questions were asked.

Having lived in a studio flat with my boyfriend at the time (I'd just graduated and he was doing further study) it's a fucking awful idea. It killed us and I wouldn't have been able to study well in it let alone both of us!
The rent isn't great. The price doesn't seem too bad (I paid around 535 as a student in London) but think about how much space they're actually getting for that? A studio is IMO - having lived in one! - really a one person space. It's extortionate for a one, even one and a half, person space.

I've just completed the guarantor reference for my DDs second year at uni. I think all students now need guarantors in order to secure accomodation,don't know anyones student DC who could get accomodation without a guarantor. I had to do it for halls for first year, simple process, for next year, private rent, I was surprised how much more info they want, payslips, confirmation of employment from work. it's not fair but there it is. However I guarantor just my DDs share of the rent ( do check agreement!) Her flatmates parents will guarantor their DCs share. Are GF parents guaranteing her 50%? If you can't do it can his dad? Or other relative? How much do you trust your son? Is he reliable and good at budgeting? Finally is rent competitively priced ? Are there cheaper options? Sharing with more flatmates for example? Don't know where you are but DDs portion of rent is £6000 a year. Which means landlord is raking in 30k pa rent is for a sixties semi !!!! I'm in the wrong business ! I wouldnt be prepared to guarantor GF share but would do everything I could to help DS as I doubt he will get accomodation otherwise. Is this his first year at uni? If not how did he manage last year?

I was guarantor for DS1, but that was for halls in Bristol.. a studio flat at £14k a year seems extravagant to say the least!

I wouldn’t go guarantor. I’d suggest they get somewhere cheaper. If I had to I would take a bank loan to give my child a bigger deposit as that might be attractive to a landlord and help them get somewhere reasonable - providing I could afford the repayments.
I’d not be a guarantor for anyone not even family unless I knew I could afford the repayments.

Just noticed that he is in London so £7,000 a year each isn't a lot at all. He probably won't find anywhere much cheaper and he won't find anywhere without a guarantor if he is a student. The only option is for you to be a guarantor or see if the university will help. There are private companies but I think they charge a lot of money and would still expect you to cosign. There really aren't many options for him if you don't act as his guarantor apart from leaving university.

@Runnerduck34 I was the same. DD’s is £5k+ and she’s one of 5. So over £20k for a terrace near the railway station. Definitely in the wrong job!

@lilgreen exactly! There's no way landlords can command these rents if renting the whole house to a family but student landlords charge extortionate amounts when renting out per room. There is a big premium on student accommodation and sadly other landlords wont accept students so they have no choice but to pay inflated prices.
@usermane I think you should only guarantor your sons share of the rent, but rent aside, renting a studio with GF is risky in case they split up they would be better renting individual rooms in halls, my DD has a small double in hers and they are allowed guests so they could visit each other! Her rent in halls is around 5.5k pa, it was the second cheapest, she applied for cheapest but didnt get it. Anyway I think your DS will need a guarantor in order to get any accommodation. They can pay for there rent in halls per term by direct debit as soon as their maintenance loan comes in (which is also paid in termly installments) so they dont get a chance to spend it on anything else and therefore reduces your risk. However thats assuming maintenance loan covers the rent, as the amount of maintenance loan he will get will depend on YOUR household income.

@littlepaddypaws so what did you do when your kids were at uni?
I totally understand not wanting to be guarantor for adult working children.

Just to put it in perspective, this is a "swanky student studio" for £14k:

wearehomesforstudents.com/student-accommodation/london/camden-hawley-crescent#Bronze-Studio

This will set you back £100 per week for a shared bedroom in a shared house:

www.spareroom.co.uk/flatshare/flatshare_detail.pl?flatshare_id=9029455&search_id=917876950&city_id=&flatshare_type=offered&search_results=%2Fflatshare%2F%3Foffset%3D0%26search_id%3D917876950%26sort_by%3Dcommute_distance%26mode%3Dlist&

My DH did this for the DSC and it ruined him, now I'm solely responsible for keeping a roof over both our heads.

theorig they were in halls and had part time jobs.

@littlepaddypaws so if they were in halls for all their student years then they didn't need a guarantor. Part time jobs wouldn't secure a rental property.

If this is the case then you've not been in the position of the OP (swanky pad or otherwise), and you saying you wouldn't be guarantor wasn't really in context of the question raised.

@runoutofnamechanges and @Jimjamjooney

There are LOADS of rooms/flatshares/house shares in London at around the prices I stated. You can't have looked much (if at ALL) if you 'didn't find any.'

Seriously, I found these within 30 seconds.

www.spotahome.com/for-rent/london/cheap-rooms

www.gumtree.com/search?featured_filter=false&q=student-room&search_location=London&search_category=property-to-share&urgent_filter=false&search_scope=false&photos_filter=false&sort=price_lowest_first&page=1

www.spareroom.co.uk/flatshare/index.cgi?&search_id=918051007&offset=0&sort_by=price_low_to_high

You must have looked for 'rooms/flatshares in London' and not selected 'lowest price first.' It's common sense to do that, (That's if you bothered looking at all.)

It's absolute hogwash that a couple (of students) have to pay as much as the OP's son and his girlfriend. (£600 a month each, not including bills!)

They could easily find somewhere for £325 to £350 a month including bills (in London, but outside the centre of London,) OR £450 to 475-ish (closer to the centre of London.) INCLUDING BILLS.

The OP's son and his girlfriend are going to be paying double that (with all the bills on top.) That's if anyone is bonkers enough to sign as guarantor.

Is it pretty central? £1150 for a snazzy studio in Central London is a bargain, but not for students who aren’t earning.

@paranoidmum2 Exactly. It's ludicrous that they are planning on paying so much for a studio flat, when they could get a flatshare (maybe with 2 or 3 others) for half of what they will pay for said studio flat (when they add bills on top!)

Agree Tiger! I lived in catered Halls in Zone 1 for £1400 per term! (Although this was 15 years ago!)

Lol Tiger. The first link of yours I clicked was for a room being adversitised for a measly £50 pw inc bills ... it's a guy who is advertising the room and he is looking for a student 'lady' roommate . I dunno but I'm not getting great vibes about that one😅

They could easily find somewhere for £325 to £350 a month including bills (in London, but outside the centre of London,) OR £450 to 475-ish (closer to the centre of London.) INCLUDING BILLS.

The rooms near the centre of London for that price were shared rooms. There's no way something would be so far below the market value unless there is catch.

@TigerOnATrain Did you actually read the ads you found?!!

The spotahome rooms are £400-450 for a room in places like Croydon, Lewisham and Romford - that's not Central London, they are barely in Greater London.

The gumtree ads for rooms that are £400-£450 are again either in places like Harrow or Croydon and/or shared ROOMS ie you are sharing a bedroom with a stranger (or 2). There is a single room in Seven Sisters (so not central) for £606 pcm but all the rooms less than that are shared rooms or way out of town.

The spareroom ads are in actually Central London but they are all shared rooms (not flats) with 2 or 3 strangers sharing a bedroom. You can share this lovely room with 2 other men in bunkbeds for the bargain price of £460 pcm:
www.spareroom.co.uk/flatshare/flatshare_detail.pl?flatshare_id=14244826&search_id=918051007&city_id=&flatshare_type=offered&search_results=%2Fflatshare%2Findex.cgi%3F%26search_id%3D918051007%26offset%3D0%26sort_by%3Dprice_low_to_high&

The cheapest private bedroom is in this 5 person houseshare for £590 pcm but it doesn't have a window LOL:
www.spareroom.co.uk/flatshare/flatshare_detail.pl?flatshare_id=11743093&search_id=918051007&city_id=&flatshare_type=offered&search_results=%2Fflatshare%2Findex.cgi%3F%26search_id%3D918051007%26offset%3D0%26sort_by%3Dprice_low_to_high&

This is a ridiculous amount of rent for a second year student. I paid £240 a month in my second year of uni 10 years ago

Sorry should mention this was in a four bed house share - they need to be in a house share to make this affordable. It was only when both me and my bf had been working a few years we got our own flat

This is what student housing costs on the whole. It’s nor priced like regular renting. Often other landlords wont take students, wont take people without employment and proof of it, under 21 etc. Students can’t just rent out like normal workers! A palace?! I don’t think so. We paid £600 a month each for 4 of us ten years ago and that wasn’t even high. And not in London!
Me and anyone else I know at uni always had to have a guarantor and each individual person living in the house or flat had their own guarantor.
We wouldnt have been able to rent without one.