Son asking me to be a guarantor on a house share with 3 others - I'd be responsible for all rent if it went terribly wrong. would you sign?

[Ashleys63]

I don't want my son to lose the house but I'm really not sure. I wouldn't have the money to cover anyone else's part of the rent so would they take me to court etc?
My son assures me his mates are all wonderful and would never not pay their part of the rent but how does he know - anything can happen.

what would you do? I don't want to fall out with him over this .

@Ashleys63

They all have to have a personal guarantor, I will just be guarantor for my sons part of the rent - however, if any of the others don't pay, and their guarantor doesn't pay, they'll go after the others so to speak. I guess they'd try and get their money anyway they can.

This is very normal and your child will struggle to find accommodation without this

I am a landlord and joint and several is standard for much shared accommodation, student or not. Why should the landlord take the risk if the student's guarantor is unwilling.

If you really cannot afford it, the best thing to do is for you, as guarantor, to phone the letting agent and ask if there are alternatives:

1. That you guarantee his rent alone.
2. That you pay in two instalments of six months up front. (This is the standard approach for overseas students who don't have UK based guarantors.)

It is basically up to the landlord. If he is left in arrears he is more likely to go for the lowest hanging fruit (ie the richest guarantor) first anyway, so may be happy with your offer.

Two other things then. Stress to your DC how important it is to pay rent bills. A CCJ hanging over from student days can leave a surprisingly large shadow over future jobs, rentals and mortgages.

Make sure that you have contacts for other parents. The easiest way to do this is for the student to suggest that they make a list of each other's emergency contacts in case of accident, then photo it.

I would not want to be guarantor jointly with some other random 'parents' either.

Thankfully got a few years before DD is that age..

No-one wants to be, few have a choice unfortunately, which is what some people seem to be finding hard to understand.

@Needmoresleep are there seriously parents who are foolish enough to guarantee someone elses portion of the rent?

I think I would rather stump up extra for a studio flat..

That's pretty standard. We did it after much deliberation and we asked about the status of each of the others students guarantors to assess likelihood of them being able to cover. Alternatively he should have the option to pay his share of the rent in full upfront.

I second the idea of insurance for this. No idea what it costs. I didn't realise this was an option when I signed for DD, having being presented it as a no-alternative option. I was twitchy about it until the end of the rental agreement, and I would have taken the insurance out, unless it was prohibitively expensive.

I think insurance would be a great idea.
What 18 year old wants to live in a studio flat on their own when they've gone to uni hoping to make friends? Particularly in the times of Covid when living on your own may mean not seeing people for months?

topcat, a studio flat is another option obviously.

Unless a property is rented by the room, students are renting the property. The landlord simply wants the rent for that property guaranteed, and wants guarantors to take the risk, not them.

There will be properties where no guarantors are asked for. My DDs last property was like that. A very elderly and amateur landlord, who was equally inept at organising repairs. The year before parents all had to be guarantors, but the landlord/letting agent was a lot more professional. It was fine. DD was aware it was a big ask, so made sure she was confident that the others were reliable.

@Needmoresleep

I kind of get that, but it is the idea of being committed in some kind of 'relationship' with my child's friends parents that gets me.

It is only because students are generally powerless that this rental situation has been allowed to develop.

You are in business as a landlord, so some of the risk should be yours, surely.

(I am not generally a landlord basher btw)

Our DD asked us to do this a couple of days ago.
She’s going into an 8 person house share.
I am waiting for an email from the agent confirming that we will guarantee only her rent

its a stupid but standard practice. Landlords tend to use an agreed service for deposits to protect students from having their deposits unreasonably withheld. That seems to work generally well.

Yet joint and serveral cover is still standard. Whats the point of signing as guarantor if you can't guarantee your DCs rent? And the landlord can just go after the others means they aren't really enforcing the original

I'd much prefer individual guarantor contracts to limit your exposure and then its the landlords responsibility to enforce those as needed and/or get insurance to cover potnetial shortfall.

As it is - usually you get pressure from your DC thats just found a nice houseshare and all the others have signed so you have little choice. Our DS is looking at a 6-room house today, thats a lot of potential risk!

To the point where I think there should be legislation to protect against this kind of co-guarantor setup

Nope. For me personally, that would decimate my small savings if it went tits up.
I've seen it happen to other people. Odds are always at least one will default and their parents will Never do the right thing.

Definitely not, not a snowball’s chance in hell. Unless you have massive savings you’d be happy to fritter away should any of them default on the rent. They could simply disappear leaving you legally obliged to pay. Just no.

I agree it is iniquitous. I also found my DD could not rent a student house without it - all the local letting agencies had the same condition. I refused but exH did it in the end.

I was not aware you could insure but if I have to do it at any point I would definitely take out the insurance.

topcat, I can assure you that I prefer not to rent to students. Young professionals are much more reliable and know about things like dishwasher salt and condensation. Too often I have found myself having to teach basic domestic stuff that their parents should have taught them. (Tumbledryer not working...have you checked the lint tray, etc.)

Students as tenants would become even less attractive if the risks were increased. Already you can see landlords move away from student rentals in places like Bristol and Oxford. Even though rents have increased dramatically, the returns just aren't there any more.

That said, I have offered DD that we would help pay for a studio flat for her final two years at med school. (At that point she is on a smaller NHS bursary, plus has a six month placement with accommodation that won't be commutable, so won't need a flat the whole time.) I would negotiate and guarantee and reckon it would probably be cheaper. But no...she wants to share with friends.

OP should phone the letting agent. There is always scope for negotiation. In particular rent in advance is normally attractive.

No!!

My dps did this for me when I was a student, but it was only to cover my share of the rent.

So your being asked to be the guarantor fot your son. The other flat mates have there own.

I am a guarantor for my DS and his two flat mates have there own. Within the form you sign it is clear it relates to your DS part of the monthly rent. Not the others. i think you have got confused. Re read the paper work and speak to the landlord/estate agents to be clear what your agreeing to

I should add that I had to agree to a credit check and reference from employer to confirm I could cover the payment. If you dont earn enough you will be declined as a guarantor. Assuming there doing it properly of course

I believe on the WIWIKAU Facebook threads on this there is mention of some insurance or similar schemes that cover this. It's all very well people saying that they would never do it but it's very standard now and limits accommodation options extremely if you rule it out, potentially leaving your child in an unsatisfactory position if friends go ahead without them.

bigbird, I doubt they are confused. Many contracts are "joint and several".

This is one of the first major contracts DC will have signed. They need to take it seriously. The idea that the odds are that at least one of them will default is shocking. You sign a contract. You keep to the terms. You are an adult. Your don't expect other adults, whether flatmates, parents, or landlords, to bail you out.

Not read the full thread, but this is totally normal for student accommodation, and it will be very unusual to find a house where this won't be required.

Here you go www.wiwikau.co.uk/index.php?threads/817/

(It was standard when I was a student in 2004-2007)