Would I Need A Guarantor?

RoxRoxBling

What factors determine that I'll need a guarantor to rent a property?
I'm working part time, first time renting, and have savings.
I'd say my credit score will be good.
As I have savings, do they take this into account for deciding if I'd need a guarantor?

Annisele

Different landlords have different requirements - so if one says you'll need a guarantor, that doesn't mean they all will.

Some of the things they might take into account:

How much is your income compared to the rent? If you earn three times more than the rental amount, you're a safer bet to the landlord than if you only earn twice the rental amount. I think income is likely to be the biggest factor here, but there are others.

How secure is your employment? Permanent employee, self employed, zero hour temping?

Will any of your rental payment be coming from benefits?

Some landlords might take your savings into account (especially if you have enough to cover a year or sos worth of rent), others won't.

(This one might be controversial, but I'll say it anyway). How long have you been in the country? If you're not a UK national and you've only been here a week, the landlord might care about how long is left on your visa, and might be worried you'd trash his house and then do a moonlight flit back to somewhere it's hard to sue you from.

RoxRoxBling

I'm looking to move as soon as I get a new full time job. As I'm looking for a job with the council, this is usually a 'fixed-term contract' so all of that will be taken into account. Also I'm looking to take home around £1000 before looking for a place. So that should be sound for the LandLord. And I am born in England.

Because of my savings I can use that to pay the rent, if worse come to worse, as my job is not so secure at the moment. However, I don't think when deciding on a guarantor that they look at savings, they only look at your wage. Am I right to believe this?

pmlindyloo

As already said different LAs/LLs have different criteria so you just need to phone around and find out.

For instance when my daughter rented (house share) she was on a temporary contract but had savings sufficient to cover the rent. The LA were happy for her to show them her savings account information and they didn't ask for a guarantor.

Benji

As a general guide, 'young' first time renters will need a guarantor in almost all situations.

Other than that, they tend to look for a good financial record (which you have), good previous landlord references and 6 months full time employment.

If you have savings, then an offer of paying the rent up front (or 6 months of it) can work instead of a guarantor, but there are risks for the tenant (and TBH it offers little security to the landlord - but hey ho)

RoxRoxBling

Thank you for your replies,
Also, would they decide if I need a guarantor, after I've paid the required fees, and after referencing etc etc has taken place.
Cause if that is the case and I have trouble getting a guarantor, then all the fees I paid goes to waste

RoxRoxBling

pmlindyloo wrote: »

As already said different LAs/LLs have different criteria so you just need to phone around and find out.

For instance when my daughter rented (house share) she was on a temporary contract but had savings sufficient to cover the rent. The LA were happy for her to show them her savings account information and they didn't ask for a guarantor.

Thanx, in that case I will have to find the best letting agent (I'm thinking a small independent one in my town), and hope the LL will accept evidence of savings!

Benji

If you make sure you have a financially sound guarantor lined up before you even approach agents - it won't be a problem.

Usually, you'd pay a fee for referenceing - and that is what tells the agent that you need a guarantor. However, the general things I mentioned will be 'company policy' so they should be able to tell you before you pay a penny whether the lack of an established full time job, or the lack of renting history would cause a guarantor to be required.

tbs624

Why focus only on going via an LA? Try to find a LL who self manages - the local LL association should be able to help, and the local Council hay have a list of "accredited" private sector LLs.

Any admin/referencing fees are likely to be lower than those incurred going via an LA and direct negotiation can be far easier than going through an LA

david29dpo

Annisele wrote: »

(This one might be controversial, but I'll say it anyway). How long have you been in the country? If you're not a UK national and you've only been here a week, the landlord might care about how long is left on your visa, and might be worried you'd trash his house and then do a moonlight flit back to somewhere it's hard to sue you from.

Why would this be controversial? perfectly good reason.
I did this with a tenant including a guarantor, still run off after 4 weeks!