Hi,
We have my sister and husband down as joint guarantors whose earnings come to around £65,000. Would this be sufficient for a £1500 a month rent? My husband has a low income hence the need for a guarantor. I have also heard that Housing Hand can act as a guarantor but don’t know much about them.
From a LL’s perspective, typically, for UK tenancies and guarantors you want them to be:
Personally, I would not want to deal with more than one guarantor. In this case, assuming the £65k combined earnings are before tax then the amount doesn’t look sufficient.
It’s crazy knowing my sister would be able to pay £1500 a month no problem if I ever missed a payment, she’d transfer it to me straight away but when the requirement is around £50,000 a year earnings for one person, I’m sure a lot of applicants including myself would be declined. Just to add, I’ve never missed a rent payment in 10 years of renting history.
Different landlords will take differing approaches. If you and husband almost meet affordability on your own then a guarantor may just be for a bit of extra security and could be a bit more flexible and consider their assets and other commitments. If you are far off meeting affordability then its unlikely to pass, £1500 pm is a lot of rent to pay for a couple on joint net income of circa 50k pa, its definitely a lot if its not your own rent.
Can you actually afford this rent if youre on a low income?
Yes, we can but its just the black and white aspect of having to earn 3x the rent. We bring in income through different ways and not just 2 salaries. My father gives us quite a bit of money a month (he lives abroad) but this doesn’t count for anything on the referencing but if landlords looked at this then it would make things a whole lot different and better! Bank statements would show this. My guarantors earnings aren’t black and white either.
I’m hoping this will be the case with the landlady that we have had a chat with. She showed us round the property and really took a liking to us knowing we’d be honourable tenants. £1500 is fine for them to pay hence why they would carry on being guarantors. My sister just got an overdraft offered to her for £10,000 lol. She’s certain they can afford the rent if a payment was missed.
Unfortunately, its the ‘black and white’ earnings that count. This is the case in pretty much all personal finance transactions. Other sources of income are never deemed regular or reliable. Put it this way. if you went to get a mortgage, the bank/BS would only consider provable income from work based salary and some types of tangible liquid assets. Bonuses and commission are regularly excluded.
Never mention payments from family as it may look like you are being propped up let alone look suspicious.
I can see how it would look. Luckily we have secured a lovely house as the LL just wants good tenants (the last tenants wrecked the place causing £5000 in damages) so all earnings from both parties were taken on board and he is happy his rent will get paid. 10 years of renting without a missed payment must’ve stood for something 
Sorry to say, but few landlords are going to base an affordability calculation on a discretionary payment from you Dad, especialy when he is not even on the country.
You havent mentioned the other ways you “bring in income”, but if they are equally tenuous then I would think you have little hope of getting a property based on that income.
Thanks for your comment. See my above comment that shows there are trusting LLs out there but unfortunately, too many have been burnt by tenants, ruining for us good tenants.
The last tenant the LL had was a GP and wife who looked fansastic on paper but wrecked the place through domestic violence and caused £5000 worth of damage when they ended the tenancy after a year.
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