Finally Debt Free After 34 Years, But Still Need to Live Frugally

elizabethhull

HairyHandofDartmoor wrote: »

I agree it's a ridiculous contract . If one of his friends got depressed and dropped out and didn't pay their rent, we and the other guarantors could be liable for their rent for the year . I know the liability would be shared between the four parent guarantors in theory, but it seems like a risk.

I really hope that the agency will let DS3 pay six months up front and then we won't have to sign this ridiculous guarantor agreement.

I feel so stressed I could cry .

Yes, it really is a ridiculous contract. I'm afraid I don't know enough about the subject to offer any proper advice, except PLEASE don't sign so you're liable for all of them. You would be stressing all the time, just in case of default.

Noella: I would get back to the company for redress, their personal problems are not yours and you're not making unreasonable demands.

badmemory

The trouble is it would not be shared between the remaining parents. It would land up being paid by the guarantor that they could catch. A sitting duck!


This sort of contract should be banned. Perhaps time to get Martin on the case!

Sunshine_girl2

HHOD , the contract is pretty standard these days , for what it's worth most of the parents I know who have been in this position have paid up front. At least you have read the contract , some people will have missed it. I think your DS3 needs to start thinking about the years after accommodation as well , am pretty sure in London you will be in the same situation as this year. As well as the 6 months rent do they also ask for a deposit usually one months rent which goes into a deposit protection scheme that's given back at the end of the tenancy. Not sure if it applies to student accommodation. Plus make sure DS3 doesn't have any of the utilities in the house solely in his name , unless the bills are individual to each room. As if these don't get paid they can chase him for outstanding bills . If in doubt pop over to the house buying , renting and selling thread for advice on any of it. Have seen people asking these questions on there.

Please do your homework before you sign anything .

arsenalbarnie

I agree re these contracts. It is commonplace with student tenancies unfortunately. Have had 3 go through uni on these contracts with no problems tho. I might add I am also a landlord for a student property. I however do not have one of these tenancies. The parents act as guarantors for the individual. Have never had a problem getting the rent in ten years. I also don’t ask for the rent from July like many landlords do. I think it is very unfair to ask for rent two to three months before the loan comes in. My students pay the rent from September to June. They can still move in from July. It makes the headline figure higher as rent is over 10 instead of 12 months, but it also includes all the bills, tv licence and tv/ broadband. They can tumble dry their clothes to their hearts content! I never have a problem letting this property.

Have just checked dS3 agreement. He is in London doing a PHd and in a house share, not all students. His tenancy is joint and severally liable and as he is a student I am the guarantor, holy moly. DS1 is in a house share too and his is the same, but he’s guaranteeing as is in well paid job. I hope they let you pay up front. We were told when DS1 started uni that it is extremely rare for them to go after the other guarantors and is a last resort. That doesn’t help you worrying about it tho. If I have a student drop out then they are made aware they are liable for the rent until they or we can find another person to step in and take over their room.

Good luck, agents/ landlords do love getting the rent up front.

I agree that Martin should be looking at this sort of tenancy.

Sunshine_girl2

arsenalbarnie wrote: »

I agree re these contracts. It is commonplace with student tenancies unfortunately. Have had 3 go through uni on these contracts with no problems tho. I might add I am also a landlord for a student property. I however do not have one of these tenancies. The parents act as guarantors for the individual. Have never had a problem getting the rent in ten years. I also don’t ask for the rent from July like many landlords do. I think it is very unfair to ask for rent two to three months before the loan comes in. My students pay the rent from September to June. They can still move in from July. It makes the headline figure higher as rent is over 10 instead of 12 months, but it also includes all the bills, tv licence and tv/ broadband. They can tumble dry their clothes to their hearts content! I never have a problem letting this property.

Have just checked dS3 agreement. He is in London doing a PHd and in a house share, not all students. His tenancy is joint and severally liable and as he is a student I am the guarantor, holy moly. DS1 is in a house share too and his is the same, but he’s guaranteeing as is in well paid job. I hope they let you pay up front. We were told when DS1 started uni that it is extremely rare for them to go after the other guarantors and is a last resort. That doesn’t help you worrying about it tho. If I have a student drop out then they are made aware they are liable for the rent until they or we can find another person to step in and take over their room.

Good luck, agents/ landlords do love getting the rent up front.

I agree that Martin should be looking at this sort of tenancy.

Interesting perspective from both sides from AB.

[Deleted User]

I hope the worry over the guarantor business didn't give you a sleepless night, HH, and that you feel up to spending a busy and 'full on' few hours volunteering and then doing the paid job. I hope the sun shines for you and your little charges today too. It's shining here for the first time in yonks but, viewed from inside, has shown me how much the windows need cleaning:o:(. Not a job I relish!

Didn't you once mention that SIL is a lawyer? Has she had a look at the agreement and given any advice apart from saying that it's a standard agreement as it sounds from other posters that it is?


I always thought that going away to university was the chance to loosen the apron strings and start to be independent. It certainly was in my day:j. I'd have hated my parents to have had to continue being so involved in my everyday life:eek:

[Deleted User]

arsenalbarnie wrote: »

I agree re these contracts. It is commonplace with student tenancies unfortunately. Have had 3 go through uni on these contracts with no problems tho. I might add I am also a landlord for a student property. I however do not have one of these tenancies. The parents act as guarantors for the individual. Have never had a problem getting the rent in ten years. I also don’t ask for the rent from July like many landlords do. I think it is very unfair to ask for rent two to three months before the loan comes in. My students pay the rent from September to June. They can still move in from July. It makes the headline figure higher as rent is over 10 instead of 12 months, but it also includes all the bills, tv licence and tv/ broadband. They can tumble dry their clothes to their hearts content! I never have a problem letting this property.

Sounds like you're the ideal landlord, arsenalbarnie:A:beer:. What a shame there aren't more like you.

teafor2

Morning HHD I hope thinking about DS's lease didn't give you a sleepless night.

It's interesting how landlords have different caveats within leases. The one we've recently signed for DD is pretty much like what AB has for their house, everything is included but after using £40's worth of electric and gas they're responsible for the rest of the bill. It also stipulates she's responsible for the rent even if she does move out. She has to pay from July but if she doesn't move in, it's only half the rent, if she does move in, it's full rent.

I think AB is spot on when they say landlords like money up front, who wouldn't

Hope you hear back from the landlord soon so you can move forward. Have a lovely day at work. xx

foxgloves

I think student accommodation sounds like a minefield these days. Back when I was renting the city centre sh*tholes which passed for 'student houses' (early to mid-1980s), there was still a national rent council, which could be contacted for help with u scrupulous rent rises, etc. I threatened one landlord with getting the rent council involved when he tried to increase my rent by 33% one year. He soon backed down & we agreed a much more gradual rise (which I avoided altogether by moving out). I agree with a previous post though. Going off to uni & sorting out accommodation was something we did as part of our independence. Only the most over-protective parents really got involved (out of all the studes I knew, I can only think of one person whose parents helped get her into a house). Dont get me wrong, parents did help, but with the practicalities i.e help with moving in (my Dad kindly hired a van on moving day & with giving us 2nd hand furniture - sofa, old TV, a better desk, etc..........but there was no issue of parents needing to be guarantors for the rent or anything. I expect part of that was that we had the students grant system, & although that didn't make our education free (it was means tested on parental income & they were expected to make up the difference), so perhaps landlords weren't as concerned at student levels of debt perhaps interfering with ability to pay rent. We did have to pay a deposit, which our awful landlord would try each time not to repay us but we did always get it back in the end. Finding a month's rent in advance & also the deposit was as difficult then as it is now, but I think that even proportionately, student rents back then wouldn't have been as astronomical as they are now. Too many people have jumped on that particular bandwagon with the hope of making serious money from student buy-to-lets. I lived in a couple of truly dreadful properties - both big Victorian houses converted for multiple occupancy - neither were safe enough to let - this was the norm back then before things like gas safety certificates & smoke alarms - but looking back, I think the experience toughened us all up. Even though I was a naughty spender back then & always overdrawn, we weren't in a position to buy things like furniture & stuff to kit out our houses on credit cards because back then, we couldn't get them, so we made do with donated stuff from our families & what we could scroounge (I still remember moving flats via 'borrowed' Finefare (remember them?) shopping trolley because none of my student cohort had a car. I remember years later, a colleague telling me they were taking out another mortgage to buy a house for their student daughter to live in because the student houses she'd looked at 'weren't very nice' - I thought that was great for those who can afford to do it, but back when I was a student, I wasn't aware of anyone being in this situation. We all lived in our slummy student houses & slowly moved up the ladder afterwards as we graduated & found jobs.
I reckon there is still a lot of exploitation around the whole area of student accomodation though. There always is when there's an opportunity to make money.
F x

redofromstart

Maybe have a look at guarantor insurance?

See here for an advertorial: https://thenegotiator.co.uk/at-last-insurance-for-student-sharers-guarantor-insure/

https://onlymyshare.com/
https://www.guarantorinsure.co.uk/

£99 for peace of mind if you do have to sign it?