Rent guarantee for student

[this is my username]

My son is moving in to private rented student accommodation for the next academic year after spending his first year in halls. The letting agent had asked for a guarantor and he has named me. I have no problem acting as a guarantor for his share of the rent.

I have received a copy of the contract and a guarantee to sign up for. Each tenant in the shared house is required to provide a guarantor. I have checked with the agent and they have confirmed that if one of the tenants defaults then the chain of liability is individual tenant - tenants guarantor - remaining tenants - remaining guarantors. That means that if I sign then I could ultimately be responsible for the entire rent for the house for the entire year.

One could argue that it would be very unlikely to reach that point, and so what's the problem? The problem is that I would be signing up for a potential £30k liability for people that I have never met and that I'm not sure that my son even knows that well. If it is a very unlikely scenario, then why isn't the landlord / agent taking the risk instead? I just don't think that it is a reasonable thing to be asked for.

Has anyone else got any experience of this - is it normal for student lets? Never happened in my day, and hasn't been asked of my daughter in a different city.

[Pit Pony]

Yes. They want to make every parent vicariously liable for every other student and their parents.
I wasn't happy to be asked to do this with 7 other students. That was £36k of rent for 12 months

What I want to know is what the letting agent would do if every parent turned around and said "No. fk off"

[vonhosen]

this is my username said:

Has anyone else got any experience of this - is it normal for student lets?

Yes.

I had the same 'what if' concerns.

[this is my username]

It looks like a guarantor isn't required if he pays all of his rent up front. Not an ideal solution but I risk that I am more comfortable taking.

[parabolica]

Pit Pony said:

Yes. They want to make every parent vicariously liable for every other student and their parents.
I wasn't happy to be asked to do this with 7 other students. That was £36k of rent for 12 months

What I want to know is what the letting agent would do if every parent turned around and said "No. fk off"

It’s pretty obvious what would happen if your son/daughter failed to obtain a guarantor.

[sunbeam alpine]

this is my username said:

It looks like a guarantor isn't required if he pays all of his rent up front. Not an ideal solution but I risk that I am more comfortable taking.

I was going to post this. It's what I did a few years back. I didn't fancy being on the hook for people I didn't know. It seems to be pretty standard for student contracts.

[monthou]

parabolica said:

Pit Pony said:

Yes. They want to make every parent vicariously liable for every other student and their parents.
I wasn't happy to be asked to do this with 7 other students. That was £36k of rent for 12 months

What I want to know is what the letting agent would do if every parent turned around and said "No. fk off"

It’s pretty obvious what would happen if your son/daughter failed to obtain a guarantor.

It's also pretty obvious what would happen if everyone's parents said FRO.
It's an iniquitous clause, you're asked to guarantee people you have no connection with.

[this is my username]

Thanks all, good to know that it’s not just me!

[starbucks]

I had to do it for my daughter. The problem is demand for decent properties is off the scale in certain areas. If you don't do it someone else will take the accommodation. My daughter had to sort out her 2nd year accommodation in Dec of the first year when she barely knew who she wanted to move in with. Luckily it worked out OK.

However, one of the other students has just moved out mid way through the contract and the landlord has found another student to take his place for the remainder of the term. So he's now staying until July. No-one knew him - they "interviewed" him over Zoom and said they were happy to have him as the replacement. He moved in a few days ago.

If this hadn't happened I would imagine the guarantor for the student moving out would've been asked to step in.

[VSKeith]

Not great but I don't think it's a new thing, maybe just that it's explcit in your agreement.

I thought almost all private shared tenancies for whole single properties were of the 'jointly and severally liable' kind.

i.e. if you rent a flat/house as a whole and share the rent with others on the agreement then the others are liable if one defaults. By reason that means that any guarantors inherit that liability.

I actually experienced it myself as a student where the third housemate, who we didn't know well (friend of friends), did a runner and his parents didn't respond to the letting agent. My mate's and my parents had to cover a month between them while we got someone else in.

This was an awfully long time ago.

[MAVROS]

As a student landlord I have this clause in my contracts. However, I always understood each guarantor is responsible for each guarantee. I don’t think expecting you to cover every students rent would fly. Certainly that’s what my solicitor has told me - my contract may be differently worded.
As a side note this clause is very effective on the rare occasions one student is tardy when paying up. A quick call to the lead tenant that they’re on the hook for any shortfall usually elicits a quick response.

[Canon_Fodder]

OP paying it all up front has it's problems too as it lessens the LL's motivation to fix issues with the place

[Wings]

Again it depends on the wording of both the Tenancy Agreement and the Guarantee. A Guarantor is a person responsible for discharging a tenant's obligations, if a tenant defaults whether the LL elects to pursue the tenant. Wording of "Joint and Several" means that where there is more than one (1) person/tenant, each will be responsible for complying with the Tenants legal obligations under the Agreement, both individually and together. The LL may therefore seek to hold ALL tenants responsible to the terms of the Tenancy Agreement.

The same is no different than a Tenancy Agreement, where one partner of a couple exits the rental property, the remaining person/tenant being held accountable for the total rent etc.

I once had several student HMO's, and the above was a constant problem, and totally unfair on the remaining students/tenants.

[Neddy Sea Goon]

Had this about 5 years ago for one of my children.

Just wrote across the whole clause "liability only accepted up to 20% max share of default"

Or words to that effect. Agent was very understanding, endorsed it as "agreed" and sent it back to me

[Mrr T]

I would read the tenancy agreement very carefully. Look out for wording like "joint and several" which has very specific meaning. If the agent has told you the transition of liability I would make sure you get that in writing.

I would also ask to add a clause so the landlord agrees to carry out reasonable credit checks on any guarantor. Thats not unreasonable.

[this is my username]

Thanks all. Glad to know that it's not just me .....

Current plan is to pay a year's worth of rent up front to avoid the need for a guarantee. Not ideal but better than the alternative.

[andyxxx]

Most shared houses will have the tenants on a shared contract making it clear they are jointly responsible for the total rent.

There are guarantor contracts that limit the guarantors liability to the person they are guaranteeing.

There are also many landlords that take their responsibilities seriously and will honour their obligations without delay, even if all the tenants had paid their rent for the full year in advance.

[Countdown]

I had to sign something similar for my daughter. Her and her 3 mates are paying £800per week for what is effectively a cramped 3 bed flat in London.

[Seventy]

You can insure against this (defaults) now.

Just can’t remember who does it!


Edit. Found it:

https://thenegotiator.co.uk/at-last-insurance-for-...

Edited by Seventy on Sunday 30th January 22:25

[vikingaero]

I've just guaranteed on my daughters accomodation for Sept 22 onwards. The contract says I am only liable for her share. Sounds like you have a Landlord who wants their cake and eat it.