Advice re. being a guarantor for son

Mankysteve

£700 for the house or per a person? it's pretty standard to student houses to have generators while ive never needed one all of little bro houses have required them.

Ellie2758

for the house, not individual.

Generators? hmm dont think they'll have one of those somehow :rotfl:

Mankysteve wrote: »

£700 for the house or per a person? it's pretty standard to student houses to have generators while ive never needed one all of little bro houses have required them.

sp1987

Whilst I was at university I rented in a shared house. There was talk of needing guarantors at the agents but no parent ever signed any deed/view the agreement, nor did discussions even get that far. Madness really but shows that you son can probably find some inexperienced landlord/hapless agent who'll forget to actually go through with it.

Wee_Willy_Harris

And forget to protect the deposit, and forget about the gas safety cert, and fire regs, and the rules about illegal eviction, and harrassment. Some LLs don't "forget", they have no choice because it's the only way they get tenants.

StudentMoneySaver

I agree with those who said that if you're going to guarantee your son's tenancy, make sure it is actually only for his share of the rent. AFAIK, the law doesn't recognise parts or shares of rent in a Joint tenancy so the best way is to make sure he signs a separate AST for a room in a house/flat. If you become a guarantor on a Joint AST you could potentially be liable for the rent for all the tenants and no matter how much you trust your son, it may be that it is one of the other tenants that lets him down, lumbering you with several hundreds of pounds of (morally, if not legally) someone else's debt.

sp1987 wrote: »

Whilst I was at university I rented in a shared house. There was talk of needing guarantors at the agents but no parent ever signed any deed/view the agreement, nor did discussions even get that far. Madness really but shows that you son can probably find some inexperienced landlord/hapless agent who'll forget to actually go through with it.

They're not forgetful, they're just morons. There's no excuse for inexperience or haplessness when you're dealing with something you've invested a lot of time and money into. As WWH said, forgetting something as basic as guaranteeing rent could indicate that they're unaware or negligent about following the genuinely serious laws.

What you need to do is get a Landlord like my old one who didn't bother sorting a valid guarantor agreement - they thought they had one but I realised it didn't actually obligate the guarantor to do anything. Plus it was signed as part of the AST contract - potentially making it invalid even if there were obligations.

Ellie2758

Thanks SSM. What is an AST contract please?

maria6259

I acted as guarantor for my daughter when she moved in to her own place with her own daughter. I admit I was anxious about it at the time, but she did me a spreadsheet showing how she could afford it.
I totted up exactly how much I could be out of pocket if she defaulted on her rent, which is generally about 2 months worth (as I think she had to give 2 months notice), but it could have been for the whole minimum 6 months, and realised that, yes, I would be able to cover that somehow, and as I did want to support her to get her own place, I agreed to do it. Fortunately she has now moved in with her partner to a new place and no guarantor was needed.

Your son is only 18 so is unlikely to have references, however, he's got himself a job and is trying to become independent by finding somewhere to live. I think it should be encouraged.

If he is going back to college in september, he's going to have to find a place anyway, but he needs to keep that job!

However, I admit, I dont see how he can afford it when he goes back to college and isn't able to work full time. Does he get a student loan? Can he not continue with the student accommodaton?

angel81

Does the supermarket chain have any shops near you? Can your son ask for a transfer? I know when I was at uni there were a few students who worked at supermarkets that let them transfer to their local shops in the holidays and back to the ones near uni in term-time

Jowo_2

Ellie2758 wrote: »

Thanks SSM. What is an AST contract please?

Assured shorthold tenancy agreement - the standard contract for rental property in the private sector.

As per the previous posts, if your son signs a joint AST, he is liable for rent arrears/damage caused by the others (as they are for his), it isn't apportioned individually.

Most landlords set up their contracts this way for properties with multiple bedrooms as it's less hassle and less risk than individual contracts for each tenant.

So you don't just have to worry about him defaulting on the rent, but relationship breakdowns between tenants where one may quit the property because of a dispute but the rent liability remains for all.

Mankysteve

Ellie2758 wrote: »

for the house, not individual.

Generators? hmm dont think they'll have one of those somehow :rotfl:

I was just checking. lol £700 for a 3 bed is a bargain. The uni I'm at is meant to be the second cheapest uni town and we pay £1105 in a 5 bed.

On term of being grantor's I would only have it on the grounds of clause in the contract stating that your only reasonable for his share or the rent and that they must inform you instantly of it not being pay'd