To think a joint student rental without guarantors is risky?

[imogo]

DC is arranging his first joint student rental property with friends. All full time students. The flat is currently empty, and so the landlord and tenants all want to move quickly. It is a "joint and several" contract. The landlord has waived his right to get references. He also says he doesn't need guarantors. 🤔The other tenants and (reportedly) parents are happy to proceed on this basis, but I think that adding guarantors will be a safety net. e.g. if one tenant can't pay their rent, and the others become liable for making up the difference, there will be no guarantor to chase for reimbursement.

I realise that if I am a guarantor I increase my own personal liability, but if not, and my son becomes liable, I will end up cushioning him financially anyway - at least a formal guarantor arrangement will help me to redress this.

Aibu?

And would you be giving these life lessons to your DC's flatmates too?

TBH this is a pretty normal contract. It's the same contract I had for every houseshare I lived in where we (as a group of friends) rented a house.

What tends to happen is that if someone has to leave for whatever reason, a replacement housemate is found by advertising the room.

The only times I've had a different contract is where the landlord has chosen to rent each room individually (so the people in the house don't know each other before moving in).

Yes, it's a risk that any of them could fail to pay rent or bills.

But it's also part and parcel of university and negotiating your way through the beginning of adulthood.

Sometimes adulthood involves tough lessons (if you ignore red flags about someone's personality because they're 'good banter' but then they leave you with their debts for example!)

I mean, such is life. Adulthood involves decisions, risks and consequences. Some of these are about choosing people you can trust or negotiating your way through tricky situations like one housemate not giving you the money towards a bill you just paid.

These are part of the growth involved in being independent and out in the world on your own. University is about much more than academic studies.

In my experience the kandlord won't chase an individual on a joint contract. That's the protection for the land lord. The contract says all are jointly responsible and technically its up to them how they split it as long as the full rent is paid.
We lived in a supposedly 5 bed but had no lounge, so we paid more each to have one room empty to use as a lounge.
If someone drops out (less likely second/third year then first) then the rest of the group try and find a replacement.

Ideally I don't want to be a guarantor, but ideally I do want the other tenants to have guarantors, so unfortunately being a guarantor myself comes with the territory.

If there are guarantors, the landlord will chase which ever they are most likely to get the money off. The parents of the student who defaulted are no more liable than you would be and if the landlord knows it will be difficult to get the money from them they will chase the other guarantors instead. You can get guarantor insurance which covers you against this scenario or a lot of landlords will let you pay 6 months up front to avoid needing a guarantor.
As this landlord doesn’t require guarantors you would be foolish to offer though. If one person drops out and stops paying, the others can get a replacement.

I dislike the whole guarantor thing. When ds1 asked Dh, I felt most uncomfortable.

Quite. Most parents would be really pleased they don't have to be one. There is absolutely no advantage to anyone other than the landlord.

If you willingly and encourage being a guarantor for the entire flat you're nuts.

People take out insurance to avoid that exact scenario.

This concept that a 19/20 year old is going to default on rent is infantising them! You can only put your son in a good position - hopefully they would speak to their mates though.
In your scenario where 1 person leaves well simply the room gets advertised and they get a new person (rooms tend to be at a premium for students at the moment).