Hi all
I have been renting via a lettings agency since 2020. All has been fine. The house I rent is cheap for the area I live in, and I currently live alone.
A friend is looking to move in to the second bedroom, this will allow me more free time instead of working 6 days to cover bills, and they get to live closer to work.
All checks were passed, the nw tenant can easily afford their share of the rent and have provided details of renting for the past 20 years, but the landlord has come back and asked for a guarantor for the additional tenant.
If I have comfortably been covering the rent for 5 years, why would adding a new tenant require a guarantor? If anything this second income ensures we both have plenty of resources to make payments, and have savings for any emergencies in the future
Due to imminent changes of law landlords are protecting themselves more as standard and this is one of the tools they are using.
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Are you proposing that this person become the landlords tenant, or your tenant, (ie a lodger)? If its the former, then your existing tenancy will need to end and probably a new joint tenancy created. This will give them equal status to you. They will also become responsible for ALL the rent, just like you and if they serve a valid notice, your tenancy will also end. This would certainly justify the landlords concerns.
If theyre your lodger then youre still responsible for the rent to the landlord and any arrangement for the new occupant to contribute is between you and them and they’d pay you. It would be taxable income though and you would have some landlord responsibilities. However, you would be able to evict them easily if things break down without losing your home.
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Thank you, this makes it a little more understandable. My friend was advised on affordability of 1.5x their share of rent from the lettings agency, it appears the landlord is looking at 1.5x full rent
If you want to make them your lodger then you should ask the agent for this instead and they shouldn’t then need to check affordability since you’re taking the risk of them not paying you.
We did ask for this initially, the landlord didnt want this, and asked for a tenancy set up instead