Student Joint Tenancy Problems

bristol_pilot

Geenie wrote: »

Hi Mealeys
My daughter presently is in a house of 7, and all said parents have had to guareentee their sprogs.

Correction:

My daughter presently is in a house of 7, and all said parents have been persuaded to guarantee their sprogs plus the other 6 total strangers that they have probably never met and could disappear to the other side of the world at any time.

moromir

bristol_pilot wrote: »

That is essentially what I meant by students today living beyond their means. Renting quality approved accommodation through an agency. No wonder they want guarantors. In my day it was expected that students would rent cheap grotty (but comfy) accommodation directly from a landlord. My rent was £13 a week when I was a student and it wasn't THAT long ago. Even today, if you rent directly from a landlord it is straightforward to find a place without parental guarantors. I'm a renter myself - no guarantor, no proof of income, no deposit. No agency either.

I'm sorry but this just shows you are applying an extremely limited experience to something much more complicated.

I graduated in 2007 and I lived in grotty terraces in Cambridge (we even had the environmental health out (and our complaints upheld) over the state of the third one when we turned up to move in).

For the priviledge we each had to have a guarantor and we paid £320.00 per month each (plus bills). That WAS cheap compared to what else was available.

bristol_pilot

It's not really a limited experience. I have rented numerous properties all over the country for around 20 years and have never provided a guarantor.

anselld

bristol_pilot wrote: »

It's not really a limited experience.

Limited experience, as in ... have you rented as a student at a university where guarantors are the norm, or have you had your offspring at such a university?

Geenie

bristol_pilot wrote: »

Correction:

My daughter presently is in a house of 7, and all said parents have been persuaded to guarantee their sprogs plus the other 6 total strangers that they have probably never met and could disappear to the other side of the world at any time.

Wrong. Fortunately my daughter has her head screwed on because she has seen this happen to others. So she made sure that all of her house mates this year were long term trusted friends, motivated to finish their degrees. Plus she knows where they live and what their parents are called! Shocking I know.

I appreciate this isn't the same for everyone though, and the scramble for property and pressure to find house mates is very intense in popular areas, starting about now for properties to rent next October.

It would be easy to make a bad choice if you havent got enough trusted friends to fill a house, and then grasp at any unknowns who come forward who can help secure a wanted property.

The pressure from LA's in student areas is intense, and I know that if it wasn't for us being LL's and knowing what should be done, our daughter would have been taken to the cleaners on deposits and other things in the past.

moneysaver84_3

When I was at uni (3 years ago) I had to add my parents as a guarantor and assuming that I couldn't pay they would be liable. Didn't realise this would mean for everyone else too?!

As mentioned above, the tenant who did a runner must have put their parent(s) down too?

I would get together with the remaining house mates parents and track down the offending tennant / parents.

mustrum_ridcully

Is it any wonder students are rioting at the moment? If I was the parent of a uni student I'd probably join in as well!

When I think back to the student house I rented with my mates when I was at uni, I don't recall needing references/credit checks/guarantors. This was a good while ago mind you - in the days of the student grant, when summers were long and beer was cheap.

FTBFun

bristol_pilot wrote: »

Standard practice for mugs.

My parents were guarantors on my student house a few years ago, and that was just a converted Victorian terrace where the total rent was £150p/w for 3 people. It certainly wasn't luxury accomodation.

It was a private let too - a notice in the Union accomodation office.

moromir

moneysaver84 wrote: »

When I was at uni (3 years ago) I had to add my parents as a guarantor and assuming that I couldn't pay they would be liable. Didn't realise this would mean for everyone else too?!

They weren't necessarily. It entirely depends on the wording of your agreement (ie did you rent a room and share communal facilities with the others or the whole house jointly and severally with others) and the wording of the guarantor's agreement.

sonastin

bristol_pilot wrote: »

OP - do you realise that you have agreed, if it all goes wrong, to pay the full rent for the entire tenancy period for all 8 tenants? Parental guarantees for student lets usually mean that the students are living beyond their means - in accommodation more suited to professional people than students. There is plenty of student accommodation that can be had without a guarantor, its just not at the luxury end of the market.

I don't know many professional people who choose to live with 6 or 7 house mates. I would bet my entire student-days rent on the properties in question being targeted firmly at students.