Huge problem...PLEASE HELP!

Motherof1

Hi everyone,

I really hope you can help with my problem. Tomorrow I would have had to go in to the agency I will be renting though from Novermber. They asked me to get a guarantor (now, I'm not sure if this is because I will be applying for housing benefit or not). I asked my mother if she could be the guarantor and she said yes initially and now it turns out because she has an IVA against her that she can't be.

My husband and I are seperating so I'm not sure if I can ask him. The gurantor has a form to fill in and they have to get a letter from there employers....now I know he will probably say no and if he reluctantly says yes I could be waiting weeks for him to ask his employers for a letter to prove he works where he does and in this time I could loose the future roof over mine and my daughters head.

I don't have much time to sort things out. What I want to know is if there an alternative way to get around the guarantor issue? I feel so let down as soon as things look like they are coming together I then take 20 steps back down the ladder. I really hope this all makes sense. I have to get out of here and after searching for months I found a landlord who didn't mind that I was going to be applying for housing benefit.

If this is posted in the wrong forum please feel free to move it. I'm just not sure what's best to do. I know that I don't want to loose this either! I feel like crying now.

Thanks for your help always.

movingforward2010

if it is because your applying for HB , i cant understand why, as the council are paying your rent, more likely to get it off the local authority.

but u know what these letting agents are like:rolleyes: . im sure someone on here will be along with more info for you soon:)

noyk

Do you have any friends you could ask? As the landlord doesn't have to accept you as a tenant without a guarantor then it could be a problem if you can't find someone to do it.

As a side note - We were all robbed by M. Thatcher goverment really, maybe some people got rich out of the housing sell off but social housing (even if temporary until you get back on your feet) would have been the perfect solution to this ladies problem, secured housing for someone in a situation where private rental is tricky. No subsequent goverment has addressed it. I'm voting lib dem i think, at least they haven't had a go yet!

noyk

Thanks for thanking me Motherof1, though i'm very interested to know how you managed to get 363 thanks in just 30 posts? Did you join a thanking thread or something cultish like that! :rotfl: :rotfl: :T

silvercar

wxmlad wrote:

if it is because your applying for HB , i cant understand why, as the council are paying your rent, more likely to get it off the local authority.

but u know what these letting agents are like:rolleyes: . im sure someone on here will be along with more info for you soon:)

you need a guarantor because you have no income, so credit checking you has shown you don't have the means to pay the rent.

It actually is sensible, if your circumstances change and you are no longer entitled to HB the landlord needs to know the rent is coming from somewhere.

Some rent insurances will require this.

The way round it is to offer to pay 6 months rent up front, if you can afford it. Occasionally councils have schemes where they will guarantee to rent the property for 3 years.

Motherof1

Hi noyk, I'm not really sure. I post freebies when I find them but that's all I think?

Motherof1

Silvercar,

I work 16 hours a week and have a permanent part time job. I have that income and since deciding to do this I have found out that I should get WTC and CTC....but the rent is so high that's why I was going to apply for HB.

A lot of landlords know of this but I don't want to loose this property as this one seems to understand that part of my rent will hopeully be paid through HB. I wasn't going to claim full HB just a portion of it. I didn't mean to be unclear in my post.

mrs_deadline

Motherof1, try not let it get to you...

I've stood guarantor for my daughter and her son in their last two places and I know how many hoops they make you jump through... she lost out on her first flat because my income, as guarantor, was deemed too low to cover the rent!! (By that agency's standards - not all of them used the same scale). DD was gutted that we couldn't find a way to do it, and so was I as she desperately needed her own place. Something a bit cheaper turned up, thankfully, and we knew the ropes better the second time around, that's what you have to remind yourself when the setbacks keep coming.

Hopefully this agent will hang on a few days and your husband will agree to sign, if this move is what you both believe is best for your daughter. He'll have to prove his income is enough to cover your rent as well as his outgoings. In my case (self-employed) they accepted my tax statement and a bank reference rather than employer details, maybe another route to explore. But couldn't your husband just allow the agent to request an employer's reference direct? That might speed things up, then all he has to do is turn up and sign the tenancy agreement with you.

mrs_deadline

PS as mentioned, different rating agencies apply different percentages, so it's worth asking your agent what percentage of income the rent can be. Once you know what total income they require, subtract your regular income and the remainder is the amount your guarantor will have to prove.

Toto

if the worst comes to the worst and you can't get around this problem you could always rent privately. Look in your local paper, I did exactly that and found a great house in the best area in town. My landlady didn't even ask if I would be on HB (I'm not but she doesn't know that). Some people just don't want to pay an agent to let their houses. Don't give up, you will get there in the end even if it takes a little longer.

noyk

Motherof1 wrote:

Hi noyk, I'm not really sure. I post freebies when I find them but that's all I think?

ahh i see, that would do it

And very good point toto