Rant time I’m afraid.

So, I found a flat. A really nice one - pretty big rooms, balcony, nice views, really close to the town centre, and within budget. Eric liked the sound of it too, so I called the agents to pick a time to sign contracts.

Then, I find that if a tenant hasn’t worked for the last 6 months (that’s me, since I graduated in July) they need a guarantor. No problem, I say, I’ll ask my parents. They know that I can afford the place, my mum even saw the sums for herself, so all it’d be is a signature on a piece of paper and they’d never have to worry about it.

They flat-out refused me.

If everywhere requires 6 months of previous employment, I’m pretty much stuffed until mid-January. Eric’s job in Bournemouth starts in a few weeks, so she’d have to move here anyway. I mentioned to my parents that if we didn’t get a flat before then, she’d have to stay at their house with me until we did.

Then, I find out that their offer that Eric could live here whilst we look for a flat was “only temporary”. What the hell do they expect

us to do, live in a cardboard box for two months?

Now I have the twin joys of breaking the news to Eric that we might not be able to get a flat anytime soon after all, and trying to somehow convince the letting agent that we can be trusted enough to allow us to rent (even despite the massive deposit + agents’ fee).

What gets me most about it all is that the agency’s need for a guarantor is obvious - they don’t know me, they have no reason to trust me that I’ll actually pay. My parents’ refusal to be guarantor kind of implies they have just as little trust.

I should have guessed, really =S

EDIT: Hopefully, Eric’s parents will be guarantors for me. Crisis hopefully averted, but there are some problems even with that. Thanks for everyone’s advice and sympathy!