All tenancy agreements provided by HomeLets of Bath Ltd are Assured Shorthold Tenancies (ASTs) and where there is more than one person named on the tenancy, they are 'joint and several'.

In the history of HomeLets of Bath Ltd there has never been a case of one guarantor being held liable for the whole rent of a shared property.

If parties have joint liability, then they are each liable up to the full amount of the relevant obligation. Several liability is the converse of joint liability, where the parties are liable for only their respective obligations.

Joint and several liability is a hybrid of both; with respect to the claimant, the parties are jointly liable, but as between obligors themselves, the liabilities are several. This means that if the claimant pursues one party, and receives payment in full, that party can then pursue the other obligors for a contribution to their share of the liability.

For example, say four students (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) are renting a house together and they all sign the same tenancy agreement for a total rent of £400 per month.
They will no doubt have agreed between themselves that they will each pay £100 per month. However, if one of the four tenants, Mark, then stops paying his share (for example, if he leaves the house) the landlord is entitled to claim the outstanding rent from any of the tenants, not just from Mark. The landlord is not bound by the tenants' own agreement to pay £100 each. So if one of the tenants, say John, is wealthy, the landlord can sue just John, and get a judgment against him for the outstanding rent, even though he has paid his share.
Also, if the landlord has taken a guarantee from the students' parents (as is often done in student lets), he can normally claim the whole of any outstanding rent from any one parent guarantor, as the parent will effectively be guaranteeing the whole of the rent, not just his son's share.
Source: www.lawpack.co.uk/joint_and_several_liability.asp

For further advice, please contact us.