Hi, I had a prospective tenant who proposed her pensioner mother as guarantor. Her mother was a homeowner but only had an income of £1000 per month. The rent for my property was £950 per month. I rejected the application because I didn’t think that the guarantor would pass the reference checks given that guarantors normally have to have 3 times income. Was I right to do this or was it enough that her mother was a homeowner? My thought was that in order for her mother to cover the rent, she would need to sell her home which is not realistic. I tried searching on the internet but the results weren’t clear hence this post. Thanks in advance.
I would not have accepted that application on the basis of the guarantor not being able to … er… guarantee the rent had it not been paid.
However, you didn’t mention whether you took bank statements from mother. Pensioners might not have much income, but they may have considerable savings/investments. If that was the case, I would have considered the application.
Affordability for a tenant relies heavily on regular income. Affordability for a guarantor relies heavily on assets.
Hi, thanks for the reply. No, I didn’t take bank statements from the mother but to be honest the tenant was starting to get a bit abrupt when responding to my questions which is why I cancelled the application, but good advice for the future!
yeah… good call… the application process is the place to assess the vibe you have from the applicant. Any sign of a bad vibe and that should be terminal.