Failure to carry out affordability check

gwynlas

They could try for  double room in a shared house but even that would be £1000 a month in Islington and take a huge chunk of his take home pay.

RHemmings

If he's paying normal tax, then his take-home pay would be £1,772.58. With the student loan being £13k, that's £1083.33 per month, for a total monthly income of £2855.91. So, the £2200 rental is 77% of their net income, leaving them £655.91 per month for all other costs. 

Ignoring tax (as I think guidelines do), the couple would be spending 69% of their income of £38k on rent. 

The Office for National Statistics defines a property as affordable if a family pays 30% or less of their income on rent. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/housing/bulletins/privaterentalaffordabilityengland/2021  

More typically, the yearly rent is multiplied by 2.5 to get the minimum income for a particular rent. By this measure, the couple should have an income of £66,000 to afford that rent. Which of course they don't. https://help.openrent.co.uk/hc/en-gb/articles/18707806101009-How-much-does-an-applicant-need-to-earn-to-pass-referencing

While we don't know what was said between the EA and the OP's son, it looks clear that by any measure the rent is not affordable. If the son ends up suffering a loss due to this, then I personally think it would be reasonable to make a complaint through the EA's formal complaints procedure, and then to whichever ombudsman scheme the EA belongs to (hopefully TPOS). 

gwynlas said:

They could try for  double room in a shared house but even that would be £1000 a month in Islington and take a huge chunk of his take home pay.

This, to me, sounds like the sensible option. But, it sounds like the OP's son has made his (and with his partner, their) decisions about what they want. Even though by any objective measure I'm aware of, they can't afford it. 

saajan_12

Hopefully the agast-ness is first and foremost pointed at son - for agreeing to jointly pay more than his annual salary in rent. If gf doesn't, he's liable for the lot, but even if he was thinking of his share only, that's over half of his gross salary. Even at 19, there needs to be some personal responsibility. 

With the tenancy, the main question is what exactly he has signed. Eg if he's signed a reservation vs the actual tenancy. There's no difference between "agreement" and "contract", its all about what agreement/contract. 

A tenancy is between the Landlord and Tenant, so if its validly signed then son owes the rent to the LL. This has nothing to do with the agent. You might get an apology or wrist slapping on the agent based on the points raised in this thread, but none of that can undo a signed contract with a 3rd party. 

Jaytee

Thank you to everyone - @ThisIsWeird this is exactly the situation and it seems he is under the impression we will be guarantors which is a hard no. He has agreed to sit down and do a budget. I asked about Council Tax and he didn’t know what that is!!
I am much calmer and so grateful for everyone’s replies to a panicked mum. The contract I have seen doesn’t have a break clause for 24 months!

We have a loft conversion with a bathroom and have offered it to them rent free. That’s as far as we will go. 

I know he’s an adult but he’s totally naive about the cost of living.
Big big thanks to all!

Jaytee

@RHemmings You’ve been so helpful. I will share this with him.

FlorayG

In the worst case, if your son has actually signed, he still might be able to get out of it. I rent out a property, if I had a new tenant sign and then come to me grovelling "I'm sorry, it was a mistake, I can't afford it" I absolutely would let them off the agreement - no landlord wants a tenant who can't pay the rent and there are plenty of other people looking who can afford it

MasterG83

Sounds like it was reserved on the presumption you would be guarantors, which isn't going to happen so hopefully losing the £450 reservation fee will be the lesson learned and he or they can now sit down and understand what a scary commitment that was. I guess his £20k savings and monthly ongoing bills would have been eaten up extremely quickly. 

RHemmings

Jaytee said:

@RHemmings You’ve been so helpful. I will share this with him.

Only if the EA is a member of TPOS. Can you please check if the EA is a member of TPOS (The Property Ombudsman Scheme) or PRS (Property Redress Scheme)? It should be on their website. 

horsewithnoname

Jaytee said:

Thank you to everyone - @ThisIsWeird this is exactly the situation and it seems he is under the impression we will be guarantors which is a hard no. He has agreed to sit down and do a budget. I asked about Council Tax and he didn’t know what that is!!
I am much calmer and so grateful for everyone’s replies to a panicked mum. The contract I have seen doesn’t have a break clause for 24 months!

We have a loft conversion with a bathroom and have offered it to them rent free. That’s as far as we will go. 

I know he’s an adult but he’s totally naive about the cost of living.
Big big thanks to all!

I think you need to have a proper serious talk about money. 

user1977

Jaytee said:

@RHemmings You’ve been so helpful. I will share this with him.

He is also a big enough boy to join a web forum and ask for advice himself...