They often end up letting out a spare room to a friend and the ultra-low interest rates of the last five years can mean the rent their mates is paying them is more than their mortgage.
The way to do it in Oxford at that time was that you should have a bunch of mates, rent your own tinny van, book your own shows and make your own merch.
But Avis and Budget have the most flexible policies, waiving the fee if the additional driver (regardless of sex) is the renter's "spouse, mate, life companion, significant other" or domestic life partner.
This raises dilemmas: do you rent your place at "mates rates" to friends you know and trust, or aim to top up your holiday budget by subletting to strangers at a higher rate through a website like Airbnb, Wimdu, One Fine Stay, Be My Guest or Gay Homestays?
He also says he spent two years of his prison sentence working as a rent boy for his cell mate, Lorenzo, who sold him to fellow cons for $20 or four packs of cigarettes a pop.
Will was lucky, acknowledging that there would be no way to survive if he hadn't been getting "mates rates" on rent.
Then he tells me about seeing a letting agent in Edmonton who offered a mate a flat to rent, "provided you don't mind rats".
Many of my course mates have their fees, rent and lifestyle paid for by their parents.
