*WARNING: This blog post may contain ranting, insults and profanities. Read at your own risk.*
As a student living away from home, I've had to endure the task of finding accommodation through letting agencies. Last year was simple. As a first year going into my second, I found a group of girls I wanted to live with, a company we wanted to use, looked at two houses and signed that week for the one we wanted. It was simple. Now for those of you who aren't familiar, when a student signs a rental agreement, they must give the details of someone they want to use as a guarantor, who is there as a back up in case you fail to pay your rent. In most cases, this is a parent. Mine was my mum.
Anyway, she was able to be my guarantor with no difficulty, she signed a couple of things, sent proof of her income, and everything was fine, just as it was for my sister a few years before. However, this year, my circumstances have changed. Instead of staying in the same house with the same five girls, me and two others will be leaving, moving onto a three bedroom house for the final year. The company we were with initially, didn't have many 3 bedroom houses available, so we decided to go with a different company. We found a lovely 3 bedroom house in the centre of town for a good monthly fee, and signed for it, along with our guarantor information before Christmas.
However, today, I received and email from the company, informing me that my mother can not be my guarantor, as her reference has "failed due to insufficient income". So basically, if I want to live there, I have to pay another £50 (when they've already got a £150 admin fee AND a £400 deposit from me!) to change guarantors.
1) Why has my mum's income suddenly become an issue when it's been fine for the last 3 years?
2) Why should it even matter if her income is low, as it is ME that pays the rent anyway?
I get the highest loan and grant available, plus an extra bursary on top of that. But apparently these "don't count as income". The issue here isn't that my mother's income is low, it's that this company want to con me out of as much money as they possibly can!
Now I'm not one to usually rant about things like this in a blog post, but I actually feel like this could be relevant for a lot of you. If you are students, or if you are planning to be one in the future, be careful when it comes to choosing a house and which company you pick. I refuse to change companies, as they've already forked enough money out of me, I can't afford to pay those fees to other companies as well! Do your research. Does the rent include bills? Is it within walking distance to your uni? Is it close to the places you need to be? Just be careful, and don't jump into a decision too quickly just because you're worried the house will be taken by someone else. These agencies are money-grabbing arseholes. Don't let them take anymore than is necessary.
