Letting agency - 6 months in advance.

Padraig

Hi all!

I was wondering if anyone had a similar problem with letting agents -

My son is at Uni. The first year he lived on campus, this year he had a beautiful Georgian town house. It’s very grand but with 5 other guys it’s £450 a month, a great deal as many others paying same amount for small sub-standard accommodation. The letting agents asked for a Guarantor which I gladly did. Signing a simple document saying I would cover costs should he default. No problems at all.

The guys are all going in different directions so he is renting a different, smaller property with three other lads. The new letting agent refused me to be Guarantor as I could not provide pay slips or an accountant details with the amount of money I draw down from my pension. I don’t have one that I can draw on yet.

As my disabilities don’t allow me to work I only have the £615 higher rate of DLA. My partner(his mother) is a part-time ICU specialist nurse and my main carer.

I feel uncomfortable about this new company. It has one telephone number for six different letting agents with same owner. Something just doesn’t seem right. But he went ahead with it and paid the deposit.

Despite the fact that he has paid the deposit and a months rent in advance they have demanded I pay six months rent in advance as well. The rent comes directly from his student loan so pretty secure he can pay. If he can’t I can just about cover it, just.

My question is wether this counts as disability discrimination? Should I be able to be a guarantor even though on disability benefits? The present company are far more professional and had no problem at all with me being guarantor.

I feel like I’m being bullied but does this count as discrimination? Can I insist on one month in advance like the others?

Any advise greatly appreciated.

janer1967

Hi and welcome to the community 

This is typical practise unfortunately.  To be a guarantor they often want someone who pays a mortgage or is in work 
This is the same if yoh private rent landlords 9ften refuse peoole solely on benefits 

It is also typical to have to pat 6 months up front rent if there is no guarantor 

I think you will find its not just disabled people they subject these conditions to but anyone on benefits so not likely to be disability discrimination 

poppy123456

I don't see it at disability discrimination at all. It's fairly standard practice to either want a working person or/and a home owner.

My son in law is a guarantor for me where i currently live and he had to give a few bank statements with his earnings on them.

Padraig

@janer1967 and @poppy123456

Thank you both for taking the time to reply. You’ve confirmed what I thought would be the case but I posted just on the off chance that there may be another option. Fortunately, I have a small amount of savings that will cover it. Odd that the current agents didn’t have a problem with it. I rented a flat myself a few years back and did not have any problems but thinking on it the lady renting the flat out knew me so I guess she decided that a financial check up or advanced payments unnecessary. I think I’m hesitant because the next agent seems to be a bit of a cowboy outfit. 🤠

Biblioklept

I think it's unreasonable of them to want 6 months upfront when they know they get student loans but I guess maybe they have had students not pay before. However I always say to trust your gut and I'd be wary if you've got concerns already about them being cowboys. 

I live in a pretty expensive area and they would only accept guarantors earning at least 35x the annual rent which is crazy money and way beyond average salaries