Being asked to provide payslips as Guarantor is this usual ?

[Neapolitanicecream]

Hi

just wanted some experienced feedback if that was usual to be asked to provide payslips as Guarantor is this usual ?

I haven't had to do this, but I have only guaranteed DD1's rent this year which is her 1st year of a PhD, and I did DD2's in 2020-1 and have done it again for 2022-3. Letting Agents seem to be more interested in whether or not I own a house than how much I earn.

I/DH have been a guarantor a few times now and mostly only had to say whether we own a house and I think, who our employer is. But for the last one, DS last year, they asked for

• Current address (residential)
• Identification (passport and visa if applicable)
• Income information (e.g. payslip)
• Credit History

On the one occasion so far that I've been asked to be a guarantor, they were only interested in home ownership.

I listened to a radio podcast about this recently where multiple parents and guarantors naively went into the agreement. I would guess that YES- of course you need to provide your own credentials, earnings in and out etc- because YOU are paying the lot if they can't. That is the whole point if being a gu???arantor!!! What did you think it meant?

Excuse typos!

Slightly harsh @MarmiteCoriander . I have only ever guaranteed my own DC's share of the rent as I and they refuse to be party to "joint and several" contracts. I read every contract entirely, so to assert that I went into the agreement "naively" is untrue. However, I agree that some parents have been and continue to be stung because they don't check the facts fully before signing up. Letting Agents and Landlords simply want their money and will chase whoever the easiest person happens to be to get it.

I have never provided proof of my earnings or any statement of incomings/expenditure. As with @LilyPond2 's experience, I have been asked about home ownership. I have also been asked for photo ID. Given that the first time this happened was March 2020 and I have never been into any letting agency, it could have been anyone's ID as it was done electronically. It seems to have worked. I have so far not had to pay more than a £1 deposit which was returned within 10 hours to check the validity of my bank account.

It varies so much. For DS2 I was just asked to confirm I earned more than 4X the annual rent, no proof requested. For DS1 for a lease on a dive in London, I was asked to confirm home ownership by providing a report from land registry and also proof of liquid assets to meet my obligation under the guarantee.

We have had a nightmare with DD, for first year halls we were asked to provide payslips and what felt like a million bits of ID. they then came back and said we hadn't sent proof of being homeowners ( which they hadn't asked for) and as we rent then it's not something we can provide! The figure that they said we had to be earning, between us we are 5x higher but as we don't own a home this is a total stumbling block! It's making what should be an exciting time for DD very stressful!

Have you ever actually been a guarantor @MarmiteCoriander or just heard a radio programme about it?

I've been a guarantor, it was perfectly straightforward, and no I didn't have to provide proof of income.

No it isn't normal and I'd tell them to bog off. All they need is signature on a guarantee form and card details so they can take the rent from you if your offspring don't pay. Anything else is a massive breach of privacy and a fishing expedition.

@MarmiteCoriander as parents of children at university we don't actually have a choice. No guarantor, no place in the accommodation. I am sure there are a few places that will take that risk but the vast majority do not. The maintenance loan Ds is entitled to falls thousands below his rent amount.

Luckily for us Ds has chosen an individual room in a flat for second year so we are just being his guarantor rather than the whole house. Some of them are in 10 room houses.

(in fact I am paying my son's rent, it makes life simpler)

They don’t have to rent to the child if they don’t get what they ask for from the parents though. They are asking for payslips as the guarantee isn’t worth much if they don’t earn enough to cover it.

It is not unusual for them to be asked for. Just because others have not been asked does not make their situation the norm. Some will and some won't. Some will allow guarantee of own child's rent only Some will insist on joint and several liability. We are avoiding being a joint and several guarantor by paying upfront.

Just because you didn't have to do something doesn't mean your case is normal.

With everything happening with cost of living I anticipate there may be more stringent requirements put in place this year as landlords seek confirmation as to guarantors creditworthiness

Paying up front to avoid joint and several guarantor is a smart move.

A friend said where her ds is it's common to not be able to rent accommodation unless your parents earn over 40k a year.

I just had to say I was a home owner, no checks at all.

We didn't for halls, but have for the last 2 years in private rentals. In both cases the checks have been carried out by specialist first, not the landlord or letting agents.

Why so rude?? You would 'guess' this is what happens, so you don't actually know?

We have done it several times OP and have never been asked for wage slips.

It seems to vary. I was asked last month, along with “proof of home ownership” but a friend also guaranteeing for her dc in London was just asked to sign.
I was also asked for 3 months of bank accounts. All seemed madly intrusive, and unreasonable in part - what if I didn’t own my home?

I put together a sample pack of details from one of my husband’s employments and a related but not too intrusive bank account and did a firm cover letter pointing out that we were good for it. Not sure they actually read much of it.

The joint and several with a family I have never met was a bit of a thought but in the end I gritted my teeth and am hoping for the best.

Apologies OP- I didn't mean to come across as so rude in my post.

I had to provide proof of income as guarantor for Dd in private accommodation. You had to earn x times the amount of monthly rent per year to be accepted.

They also asked my employer to verify the information was correct.

Thanks Comefromaway

was it london rental this year? As it does seem very intrusive

Yes, London rental. Dexters were the agent. I didn't think it was particularly intrusive. Just normal credit checks. One of dd's housemates had a part time job which meant he had enough earnings not to have to have a guarantor so he had to provide the proof of income.

I did find it a bit silly though. We own our home and have paid off the mortgage so have much more disposable income then a couple of years ago when we were still paying our mortgage. Yet the same level of income was still needed.

We do this in Bristol for our DSs private rentals.