Joint tenants: UK national and Hungarian national?

[paul19832]

I am currently considering moving in with my partner into a one or two bedroom apartment in the near future.
I am a 25 year old professional with good income and an excellent credit history, she is a 20 year old student from Hungary due to start a masters course at Cardiff. She will have a limited or no credit history due to residence with parents in Hungary, and has only been in the UK for 6 months, so does not count yet as a UK resident (Hungary is in the EU so she is ok to be here.)

The following ways of allowing us to share a property (as far as I can tell) are:

-Let the property under my name only and be completely liable, possibly rendering her occupation of the property illegal and also affording her no rights whatsoever, in addition there will be a ‘black hole’ in her credit history here where she is at no fixed address.

-Is there any way that a tenancy agreement can be made that allows me to be solely liable for all rent/costs whilst still naming her as a tenant? I.e. if she leaves then I am completely liable, which is fine. I can establish privately how we split the rent and costs.

- Or is there a way that the tenancy agreement can be made that fixes the contribution that we both make to the rent formally, with us both jointly and severally liable if either one leaves, so a sort of customised Joint tenancy agreement? Taking into the account that she has no credit history apart from confirmed income from the student loans company.

Any feedback would be appreciated, including if I’m totally going up the wrong way here!

[Poppy]

It’s not illegal for tenants to have guests.

In your circumstances, a sensible landlord should reference and credit check both of you. Almost certainly your partner will fail and the prospective landlord can make an informed decision whether to put both names on the tenancy, your sole name or not accept either of you.

Alternatively, do everything in your sole name and do not involve your partner at all. She would have no tenant rights and would effectively be your guest.

If you are accepted as a tenant, you and your partner can decide what combination of names to put on the utility bills. It is for you both to decide the proportion of contributions to the household expenses.

[mind the gap]

Another option is for your partner, like lots of students with no independent income, to be named as a joint tenant but to have a UK based guarantor for her share of the rent and bills. Is that possible in her case?

[paul19832]

Thanks that is very useful Poppy. I guess the whole thing would have to be based on trust.. which is a bit tricky..


If you are accepted as a tenant, you and your partner can decide what combination of names to put on the utility bills. It is for you both to decide the proportion of contributions to the household expenses.

And I guess this is one way of proving that you actually live somewhere!


Another option is for your partner, like lots of students with no independent income, to be named as a joint tenant but to have a UK based guarantor for her share of the rent and bills. Is that possible in her case?

Thanks for the reply - It won't be possible as she has no family here, is there any option that the lead tenant (i.e. me) could be guarantor for the other named tenants on a joint tenancy or is this just too risky for a landlord? The idea is I need a much bigger place anyway and would not be paying for somewhere that I couldn't afford to pay for myself - so if she skipped then it would obviously be a financial implication but it wouldn't be the end of the world. Basically if anyone could afford a mortgage any more then that's the route I would be going down..

[Bel]

There is no point for you to be a guranatour for her if you will have joint tenancy; as each of you is responsible for all the rent, not just your share.

You need to find a sympathetic LL. Or pay more rent up front