Guarantor and student housing? Help

[rewol]

Hi everyone

My son is a student at Imperial in London. Unlike other uni cities, London doesn't really have much private rental accommodation that is for catering towards student.

My son and his good friend have found a 'good value' two bed flat for £1,400 a month. They are going to apply to rent it, but apparently, they will need a guarantor who earns 42 times the monthly rent, so £58,800!

Neither me nor DH earn anywhere near this. The other boy's parents are both retired so apparently won't count as a guarantor.

Is there anything they can do? He could probably use his savings to pay 6 months upfront.

London rent is outrageous. One of the reasons I to a Northern university.
I think one way around this is paying up front for the 12 months (both boys obviously and probably with parental support). Otherwise unfortunately will have to look for something cheaper.

There are guarantor companies for this reason I believe.

This is one that came up when I googled.

https://www.guarantid.com/lp-get-qualified?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4aP0hYy98AIVBYbVCh222ArEAAYASAAEgLMjfDD_BwE

Imperial has a rent guarantor scheme for students who don't have a guarantor. They should have read the Imperial accommodation pages

www.imperial.ac.uk/study/campus-life/accommodation/private-accommodation/found-somewhere/references-and-guarantors/

There are also private companies that act as guarantor for a fee eg

housinghand.co.uk/

Some landlords accept 6 months up front. Last year, one of mine got a place where the landlord only wanted the last month's rent paid up front on top of the deposit and no guarantors. There was a reason... Hope the bargain flat isn't the same one!

BTW are you sure that an individual guarantor has to earn £58k? When we have done it, it was the guarantors had to have a minimum income between all of them and own property. That said, I would avoid being a guarantor if it is at all possible.

Son contacted the university this morning, and unfortunately as he is a postgraduate now, he won't be eligible. Looked at the private guarantor website, and it would cost well over £1000!

The form which my son filled in to apply for the flat had room for one guarantor only.

Doesn’t matter what the form has space for, each tenant should have their own guarantor for their share only.

Landlord requirements for guarantors vary wildly, from a basic credit check to wanting to see payslips etc. If this is a requirement the only option is to pay in full upfront (which is what overseas students have to do)

Firstly, you need to avoid a Joint and Several liability contract. If the other person does a runner, you/your DC picks up the tab. I have drummed this into DD and refused to guarantee anyone else's rent. She found a place and I had to state that I was a homeowner and earned above £19k per year. I do at the moment but am dropping some days next term, however, at the time I signed, it was true.

Can your DC go back to Imperial and see if they have any known landlords that accept postgrads? It's got to be better than the open market.

Good idea about asking if they know any landlords.

He needs to read the university accommodation pages.

Imperial have an accommodation service for landlords to advertise directly to students, as well as for students to search for flatmates, advertise spare rooms in house shares etc. It's called Imperial Home Solutions. They also offer a legal service to check contracts etc.

www.imperial.ac.uk/study/campus-life/accommodation/private-accommodation/
www.imperialhomesolutions.co.uk/Accommodation

Tick both undergraduate and postgraduate in the filters, most landlords don't specify and it will only show places that specifically only accept postgraduates if you tick just postgraduate.

Housing hand etc still need someone to co sign who is then liable..

London landlord here.

They will be renting on the normal private market. If the landlord insists on "joint and several" they probably have to accept it or find somewhere else.

However many students renting in London won't have UK based guarantors. The normal approach in these circumstances is to pay six months up front and then a second six month instalment six months later. Offer that and see what happens. There is an awful lot of empty rental property in London at the moment, and rents are falling. ALL rents are negotiable.

What about gradpad in white city and other postgrad options?