£75k salary, landlord wants parents as guarantors

[Sadleaver]

I'm 35, earn £75k a year in a stable industry, as a permanent member of staff. I've been renting for 12 years and have glowing past landlord references. Excellent credit score.

Just agreed a new tenancy on a flat after a stressful 6 week hunt. It's £1250pm. Passed all the reference checks. And the letting agent is now asking for my PARENTS to be guarantors! I have to provide evidence of their income and it has to be above a certain amount. I'm honestly done with this bullshit. This is insane right?

It’s ridiculous.

last time I was asked for a guarantor I said no. Explained that my dad is a retired OAP on a pension who couldn’t bail me out. Whereas I’m a reasonably paid professional with a stable income. They agreed to forego a guarantor as it was clearly insane.

problem is that the market is so crazy right now that landlords can demand pretty much what they want.

We had this for DD when she was a student so quite understandable. however the agent wasn't impressed that DP and I are both part time employed, part time self employed- took some talking to persuade them we could cover the rent.

I'd be tempted to tell them you were a foundling, left under a gooseberry bush with no parents or sibs, but you do have a birthmark in the shape of a crown on your bum, but that might muddy things up.

I'm surprised the insurance market hasn't picked this sort of thing up, after all you can get insurance for pretty much anything else these days.

I’ve just put myself down as a guarantor for my 78 year old aunt. She’s just sold her property and has £££ in the bank and offered to pay the entire years rent upfront but they wouldn’t accept that. Crazy.

My local agents have been doing this for years and when I mentioned it on a thread about renting, I was told I'm wrong!!

Well that’s a flat that unfortunately you can’t rent given those circumstances.

Responsible landlords who are concerned about possible defaults can take out insurance. But I agree with others here - if they are this bad now, I'd wonder what they will be like going forward.

Mine wanted my parents as guarantor which they were fine with, but they live abroad so didn't count. I moved to an air b+b in the end it was so much hassle

Utterly mental OP!

I'm 54 btw, they are nearly 80

They must have had a bad experience with a previous tenant 😞

What a nightmare!

You can! There's an online renter's guarantor service

@Sadleaver Please see my previous post re: online guarantor service

That's utterly barmy!

letting agents are fucking parasites....but you need a place to live so you prob have to suck it up for now?

Bloody hell, I'd literally have no one to put down - both parents passed away, no siblings and both parents only children so no aunts and uncles.

Really hope your agents/Landlord accept this OP @Sadleaver https://rentguarantor.com/apply-now?ctpsource=Google+AdWords&ctppcampaignid=1621477828&ctpadgroupname=67156285168&ctppmatchtype=b&ctpnetwork=g=&ctppdevice=c&ctpcreative=536614238803&ctppkeyword=guarantor%20for%20renting%20an%20apartment&utmterm=guarantor%20for%20renting%20an%20apartment&utmmcampaign=Rent+Guarantor+%7C+TD&utmsource=adwords&utmmmedium=ppc&hsaacc=3277880813&hsaacam=1621477828&hsagrp=67156285168&hsaaad=536614238803&hsasrc=g&hsaatgt=kwd-832024224434&hsakw=guarantor%20for%20renting%20an%20apartment&hsaamt=b&hsanet=adwords&hsaaver=3&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4s-kBhDqARIsAN-ipH15Yx6rbANRwmsdJlAJMqt3wvJR0HmgZ9x8FchJOXHe5O4icJu1JqYaAqCbEALwwcB

You’re 35! Wouldn’t your parents be retirement age?!

I've heard of this happening

What a nightmare!

Batshit.

There's no way in flaming f*cking hell I would be a guarantor for ANYone.

Are you Airbnbing long term? I'm also considering Airbnb in the short term @Doggymummar. So expensive though.

@TiaraBoo My mum has just turned 60, so not retired yet. My dad is 66 and yes, retired.

May not be the LL though ... just a batshit thing the REA are doing themselves.

I am a LL and every now and then I am baffled by some mad ideas the REA have. The number of times I have gone through a contract destined for the tenant and said 'wtf?!' and rung the REA and asked them to change it or take it out. Before the current rules saying LLs cannot say no to pets the number of times I had to ask the REA to change tenancy agreements to ensure that tenants COULD have a pet. They just seem to have default one-size fits all contracts. There are other examples, but I can't think of any off the top of my head.

Tell them to have a look again at the numbers you've provided and stop blindly following a process.

This is something I really worry about. If it's this difficult as a working person in the prime of your life to show you're an eligible renter, what happens when you're retired and have no income? Bizarre.

That's nuts