Antonia is 19, starting her second year at university, and has just found the perfect three-bedroom house share. The letting agent smiles, then says the line thousands of renters hear every year: “We just need a guarantor from you.” Antonia’s mum is happy to help — but then the agent mentions the guarantor will be jointly and severally liable, could be pursued for the full rent if Antonia can’t pay, and needs to earn 36 times the monthly rent. Suddenly a simple form feels like a serious legal commitment. It is.
Quick Answer: A guarantor is someone — usually a parent or close relative — who legally promises to pay your rent (and sometimes damages and costs) if you don’t. Landlords usually require a UK-based guarantor aged 18 or over with good credit and an income of around 36 times the monthly rent. The guarantor signs a separate deed, and their liability is often joint and several, meaning the landlord can pursue them directly without chasing you first. Guarantor fees are banned in England, Scotland and Wales. If you can’t provide a guarantor, professional guarantor services, proof of savings or income, and — since 1 May 2026 — a maximum of one month’s rent in advance in England are the main alternatives.
What Is a Guarantor for Renting?
A guarantor is a third party who gives the landlord a legally binding promise: if you fail to pay your rent or breach other tenancy terms that cost the landlord money, the guarantor will pay instead. They don’t live in the property and have no right to occupy it — their role is purely financial backing.
The promise is made in a separate document, usually called a guarantor deed or guarantor agreement. It’s not a casual favour, and it’s not the same as being a character reference. Once signed, the guarantor is on the hook for real money, and an unpaid landlord can take them to court and get a County Court Judgment (CCJ) against them—even if you, the tenant, are also liable.
When Will a Landlord Ask for a Guarantor?
Landlords don’t ask every tenant for a guarantor. They ask when something in your referencing makes them nervous about whether the rent will be paid reliably:
| Situation | Guarantor usually needed? |
|---|---|
| No UK credit history (new to the UK) | Yes — very common |
| Student with little or no income | Yes — almost always |
| Self-employed with less than 2 years of accounts | Often |
| Failed the affordability check (income below the multiple) | Yes — the standard fix |
| Adverse credit (CCJs, defaults, IVA) | Often, if the landlord proceeds at all |
| Zero-hours or agency work with variable income | Sometimes |
| Employed full-time, good credit, income well above the threshold | Rarely |
| Company let (employer renting for you) | Rarely — the company is the covenant |
Our tenant referencing guide explains the full referencing process that leads to this point.
Who Can Be a Guarantor? The Usual Requirements
There is no law defining who can be a guarantor. The requirements are set by each landlord, agent or referencing company, but in practice they are remarkably consistent:
| Requirement | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Aged 18 or over | Must be able to enter a binding legal contract |
| UK resident | So the landlord can realistically take legal action against them |
| Good credit history | Checked via a credit reference agency during referencing |
| Income of roughly 30–36× the monthly rent | Proves they can absorb your rent on top of their own bills |
| Willing to sign a deed of guarantee | No signature, no guarantee |
| Not bankrupt or in an IVA | Insolvency undermines the point of the guarantee |
Most landlords prefer a parent, grandparent, sibling or other close family member, but the guarantor doesn’t have to be related to you — a family friend or even your employer can act as one, as long as they pass the checks. What matters is the guarantor’s ability to pay and their presence in the UK, which is why Loughborough University’s housing advice notes that landlords typically require a UK-based guarantor: enforcing a debt abroad is expensive and uncertain.
One nuance: a guarantor can’t be under 18, and most referencing companies will reject a guarantor with no verifiable income — not because the law forbids it, but because the landlord’s risk criteria do.
How Much Must a Guarantor Earn? The 36× Rule Explained
The most-quoted industry standard is that a guarantor’s gross annual income should be at least 36 times the monthly rent. This is a convention used by referencing companies, not a legal requirement — a landlord can set a different threshold, but 36× is what the big referencing firms (including OpenRent’s and the Flatfair criteria) use as standard.
For comparison, tenants themselves are usually assessed at around 30 times the monthly rent (equivalent to 2.5 times the annual rent). The guarantor bar is set higher because they must be able to pay your rent in addition to their own housing costs.
| Monthly rent | Tenant needs (~30×) | Guarantor needs (~36×) |
|---|---|---|
| £800 | £24,000/yr | £28,800/yr |
| £1,000 | £30,000/yr | £36,000/yr |
| £1,100 | £33,000/yr | £39,600/yr |
| £1,250 | £37,500/yr | £45,000/yr |
| £1,500 | £45,000/yr | £54,000/yr |
Worked example — Kirsten’s income check. Kirsten, 24, has found a one-bedroom flat at £1,100 per month. Her salary is £31,000, so she falls short of the tenant threshold (30 × £1,100 = £33,000). The agent asks for a guarantor. Her dad earns £41,000 a year — above the 36× threshold of £39,600 (36 × £1,100) — so he passes the income test comfortably. If he had earned £38,000, he would have failed the 36× test (£39,600 needed) and the agent could have asked for an additional guarantor or a different arrangement.
You can check your own numbers against the 30x rent rule calculator or the dedicated guarantor income calculator before you ask someone to step in.
What Does the Guarantor Sign? The Guarantor Deed Explained
The guarantor deed (sometimes called a deed of guarantee) is a separate legal document from your tenancy agreement. Your guarantor must sign it — ideally after taking independent legal advice — before the tenancy starts. Check the following before anyone signs:
| Clause to check | What good looks like |
|---|---|
| Named tenant | The deed names only you, not your housemates |
| Rent share, not whole rent | In a joint tenancy, liability is limited to your share of the rent |
| Start and end dates | A fixed guarantee period, not open-ended |
| Maximum amount | A clear cap on total liability |
| Renewals and extensions | The deed says whether it covers renewals — or requires fresh consent |
| Notice to end | Whether the guarantor can end the guarantee by giving written notice |
Loughborough University’s student housing advisers specifically recommend making sure the agreement states the tenant’s name, the start and end dates of the guarantee, and the maximum amount guaranteed — and, in a joint tenancy, that the guarantee does not accidentally cover the whole rent rather than one person’s share. That last point is critical: in a four-person house share at £2,000 a month, a carelessly worded deed could make your mum liable for £24,000 a year of other people’s rent.
The Big Risk: Joint and Several Liability
Most guarantor deeds make the guarantor jointly and severally liable with the tenant. In plain English, this means the landlord can demand the full amount owed from either of you, without having to chase the tenant first, and without splitting the bill between you.
So if you stop paying rent, the landlord is legally entitled to skip straight to your guarantor and demand every penny. They don’t have to prove they tried you first. Many tenants — and many guarantors — only discover this when the demand letter arrives.
Warning: “Joint and several” is the single most misunderstood phrase in renting. Your guarantor is not a backup the landlord tries after exhausting all options against you. They are an equal target from day one of a default. Make sure anyone agreeing to be your guarantor understands this before they sign.
Why Liability Can Outlast Your Tenancy (and How to Time-Limit It)
Here is the trap that catches families out: many standard guarantor deeds state that the guarantee continues through any renewal, extension or periodic continuation of the tenancy. Some deeds even say the guarantee survives the assignment of the tenancy or the death of the guarantor. That means a parent who guaranteed a 12-month student let could, on paper, still be liable three years later when the tenancy has rolled into a periodic agreement at a higher rent.
This is exactly why housing advisers recommend building limits into the deed from the start:
- A fixed end date — e.g. “this guarantee ends on 30 June 2027”.
- A maximum liability figure — e.g. “liability shall not exceed £13,200”.
- No automatic extension — any renewal requires the guarantor’s fresh written consent.
- Share-limited wording — liability restricted to the named tenant’s share only.
If the landlord’s standard deed doesn’t include these limits, your guarantor can ask for them to be added — many landlords agree to reasonable limits, particularly a time limit matching the initial term. Anything agreed must be in the deed itself, not in an email or a verbal promise from the agent.
What Gets Checked: Guarantor Referencing
A guarantor doesn’t just sign — they go through referencing almost as rigorous as the tenant’s: identity and address verification, a credit check (an unsatisfied CCJ or undischarged bankruptcy normally fails), income verification (payslips, employer reference, pension statements, or tax returns for the self-employed), and sometimes homeowner status. The guarantor must consent to the credit check in writing. If a guarantor fails referencing, the usual fallbacks are a second guarantor, a professional guarantor service, or the tenant offering stronger evidence of affordability.
Can the Landlord Charge You Guarantor Fees?
No. In England, charging a tenant (or their guarantor) a fee for guarantor referencing, guarantor administration or “setting up” a guarantor is a prohibited payment under the Tenant Fees Act 2019. The Act’s ban explicitly covers the guarantor as a “relevant person”, and councils including Coventry list “guarantor fees” among the payments landlords and agents must not charge.
| Payment | England (Tenant Fees Act 2019) | Wales | Scotland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guarantor referencing fee | Banned | Banned (since 1 Sept 2019) | Banned (since 2012) |
| Guarantor admin/set-up fee | Banned | Banned | Banned |
| Credit check on guarantor | Banned | Banned | Banned |
| Late-rent interest (max 3% above BoE base rate) | Permitted as a default fee | Permitted | Permitted (varies) |
| The rent itself, if the guarantor must pay it | Enforceable under the deed | Enforceable | Enforceable |
The penalties for charging banned fees are serious: up to £5,000 for a first breach, up to £30,000 for subsequent breaches, and the tenant can recover unlawful charges through the First-tier Tribunal. Our letting agent fees guide covers the full banned list.
Warning: If an agent asks you to pay a “guarantor fee” or similar, do not pay it. Report it to your local council’s trading standards team or the Citizens Advice consumer service.
“UK Guarantor Only” — Is It Allowed?
Most landlords and agents insist the guarantor must be UK-based. There is a practical reason: enforcing a debt against someone in another country is slow, expensive and sometimes impossible, so a UK-resident guarantor is genuinely more useful as security.
But a blanket policy can sit in a legal grey area. Race — including nationality and national origins — is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, and landlords must not discriminate, directly or indirectly, on that basis. Government guidance on Right to Rent checks stresses that applicants must not be treated differently because of nationality or how they prove their status. A policy that automatically rejects an otherwise suitable non-UK guarantor, with no individual assessment, could in principle amount to indirect race discrimination — although this specific point is not firmly tested in the courts.
In practice, what this means for you: if you have no UK-based guarantor, say so early and propose alternatives (below) rather than letting the application stall. And a professional UK guarantor service neatly sidesteps the whole issue, because the guarantor is UK-based. If you believe a blanket policy has been applied to you unfairly, Shelter and Citizens Advice can advise on whether you have a discrimination claim.
What Happens If the Tenant Defaults? Step by Step
If you stop paying rent, here is the sequence that typically follows for your guarantor:
- Rent goes unpaid. Most tenancy agreements treat rent as late immediately, with default interest (capped at 3% above the Bank of England base rate) accruing after 14 days.
- The landlord contacts the tenant — usually with reminders and a formal demand.
- The landlord demands payment from the guarantor. Under a joint-and-several deed, the landlord can do this at the same time as step 2, or skip step 2 entirely.
- The guarantor pays or refuses. If they pay, they can later try to recover the money from the tenant (a private matter between them). If they refuse, the landlord can issue a County Court money claim against the guarantor.
- County court judgment. If the court finds against the guarantor and they still don’t pay, a CCJ is registered against them — damaging their credit file for six years, exactly as it would the tenant’s.
Worked example — Delano’s default. Delano, 27, loses his job in March and can’t pay his £1,250 monthly rent for April, May and June. Arrears build to £3,750 (3 × £1,250). His sister, who guaranteed the tenancy, receives a formal demand in July. She can’t pay either. The landlord issues a county court claim against her for the £3,750 plus court fees and fixed legal costs allowed under the deed. The court rules for the landlord, and when she still can’t pay within a month, a CCJ for over £4,000 is registered against her — sitting on her credit file for six years and affecting her own mortgage application the following year. One missed conversation in March became a six-year financial stain for two people.
Our rent arrears guide explains what tenants should do at the first sign of payment trouble — the single most important step is talking to the landlord before the arrears build.
How a Guarantor Can Be Released
Guarantors often ask how they get out. The honest answer: it depends entirely on what the deed says.
| Route | How it works | Realistic? |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed end date in the deed | Guarantee simply expires | Yes — if you negotiated it up front |
| Written release from the landlord | Landlord agrees to discharge the guarantor | Possible — ask, especially if your payment record is strong |
| Tenancy ends and you vacate | Most deeds end when the tenancy ends (check renewal clauses) | Yes — but confirm in writing |
| Tenant re-references without a guarantor | You now pass referencing alone; landlord releases the guarantor | Possible at renewal |
| Assignment to a new tenant | Your tenancy is assigned; some deeds end on assignment | Check the deed — many continue |
| Guarantor gives notice | Only works if the deed allows termination by notice | Rare — most standard deeds don’t allow it |
What rarely works is simply telling the landlord “I don’t want to be guarantor any more.” A deed is a binding contract; one party can’t unilaterally walk away. If you’re the guarantor and want out, get the release (or the landlord’s refusal) in writing.
No Guarantor? Your Alternatives
If nobody suitable can act as your guarantor, you still have options — and since 1 May 2026, one of the old ones has changed dramatically in England:
| Alternative | How it works | Rough cost |
|---|---|---|
| Professional guarantor service (e.g. Housing Hand) | A company acts as your UK guarantor for a fee | From ~£36/month; student rates ~5% of annual rent upfront |
| Evidence of savings | Show bank statements proving you can cover the rent | Free — but landlords set their own thresholds |
| Company guarantor | Your employer guarantees the rent | Free to you — depends on employer policy |
| Larger deposit | Offer the maximum deposit | Capped at 5 weeks’ rent in England — limited help |
| Rent in advance | Pay rent upfront | England: capped at 1 month since 1 May 2026 |
| Rent guarantee insurance | A policy that pays the landlord if you default | Usually bought by the landlord, not the tenant |
Professional guarantor services are the most established alternative. Housing Hand, the best-known provider, works with thousands of accommodation providers, charges from around £36 per month (student rates are typically ~5% of annual rent upfront or 5.5% in instalments), asks for a small onboarding fee, and doesn’t run a credit check on you — it assesses affordability instead. Other providers include UK Guarantor and Homeppl, so compare quotes — and check your landlord or agent accepts the provider before you pay anything.
Rent guarantee insurance is normally bought by the landlord, not the tenant, as protection against a default. You can’t usually buy it yourself, but offering to help a nervous landlord arrange it can occasionally unlock a let — treat it as a negotiating tool, not a product you purchase.
Also consider zero-deposit renting schemes, which cut your upfront costs and can strengthen your application when you’re already asking the landlord to accept a non-standard arrangement.
Students and Guarantors
Students are the group most likely to be asked for a guarantor, because they typically have low or no income and thin credit files. University housing advisers deal with this every year: get the deed checked before signing (many universities offer free contract checks), push for the time and amount limits described above, and if your family can’t act as guarantor, look at your university’s partnered guarantor scheme — many institutions have discounted arrangements with Housing Hand.
Our student renting guide covers the wider picture.
Guarantors in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Guarantors are used across the whole UK, but the legal backdrop differs:
| Nation | Fee ban | Guarantor position |
|---|---|---|
| England | Tenant Fees Act 2019 — guarantor fees banned | Guarantor deeds standard; 1 month’s rent-in-advance cap since 1 May 2026 |
| Wales | Renting Homes (Fees etc.) (Wales) Act 2019 — guarantor fees banned since 1 Sept 2019 | Standard occupation contracts since Dec 2022; guarantors still commonly required |
| Scotland | Upfront fees banned since 2012 | Private residential tenancies; guarantor deeds standard practice |
| Northern Ireland | No full fee ban — letting agents may still charge fees (must be transparent) | Guarantor arrangements standard; check any fee carefully |
One caution for Northern Ireland: because there is no equivalent of the Tenant Fees Act, an agent there can charge a guarantor-related fee if it’s transparent. Everywhere else in the UK, that charge would be unlawful.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my parent be my guarantor if they live abroad?
Possibly, but most UK landlords and agents will refuse — enforcing a guarantee overseas is costly and uncertain. A professional UK guarantor service is usually the practical answer.
Does being a guarantor affect the guarantor’s credit score?
The referencing credit check leaves a search footprint, and if the tenant defaults and a CCJ is registered against the guarantor, that damages their file for six years. Simply being a guarantor with no default doesn’t harm their score.
Can a guarantor be removed from the tenancy?
Only if the deed allows it or the landlord agrees in writing. A guarantor can’t unilaterally cancel a deed. The cleanest exits are a fixed end date in the deed, the tenancy ending, or the tenant re-referencing successfully without a guarantor at renewal.
What income does a guarantor need in the UK?
The industry standard is a gross annual income of at least 36 times the monthly rent — so £39,600 for a £1,100/month property. This is a referencing convention, not a law.
Can a landlord charge me for my guarantor’s credit check?
No. In England, Scotland and Wales, charging tenants or guarantors for guarantor referencing or administration is banned. In Northern Ireland fees must at least be transparent.
Is a guarantor liable if the tenancy becomes periodic?
Often yes — many deeds expressly continue through renewals, extensions and periodic continuations. This is why housing advisers recommend a fixed end date and a maximum liability figure in the deed from day one.
Can I be a guarantor for more than one person?
Yes, but each guarantee is a separate liability, and referencing will assess whether your income covers all of them combined.
What happens to the guarantee if the tenant dies?
It depends on the deed — some continue against the guarantor’s estate, others end. This is another clause worth checking before signing, however unlikely it seems.
Do I need a guarantor if I’m on Universal Credit?
Not automatically. Benefits including the housing element of Universal Credit can count as income for affordability checks, but some landlords still ask for a guarantor. Blanket ‘no DSS’ refusals are legally contentious — see our guide to the no DSS ban.
Can my employer be my guarantor?
Yes — a company guarantor is perfectly valid if the employer agrees and passes the landlord’s checks. It’s common in corporate relocations.
How long does guarantor referencing take?
Usually 2–5 working days once the guarantor returns their documents and consent forms. Warn your guarantor the forms are coming — slow responses cause most delays.
Should a guarantor get legal advice before signing?
Yes — ideally independent legal advice. At minimum, both you and your guarantor should read the deed fully, check the limits in the table above, and use a free university or Citizens Advice contract check if one is available.
Final Thoughts
A guarantor arrangement works well when everyone understands what they’re signing: the tenant gets the home, the landlord gets security, and the guarantor takes on a defined, time-limited risk. It goes wrong when the deed is open-ended, the liability is misunderstood, or the guarantor signs without reading.
Before you ask someone to be your guarantor, run the numbers — the guarantor income calculator checks the 36× bar, the 30x rent rule calculator checks your own affordability, and the rent upfront cost calculator works out your day-one costs (one month’s rent in advance is now the legal maximum in England). And if the sums don’t work, the main rent affordability calculator shows what rent level genuinely fits your budget — the best guarantor is one who’s never needed.
Further Reading
- Renting Off Campus: Guarantors — Loughborough University — practical advice on limiting guarantor liability
- Tenant Fees Act 2019: what a landlord can and cannot charge — Coventry City Council — the banned payments list including guarantor fees
- Letting fees guidance for landlords and letting agents — Welsh Government — Wales fee ban guidance (PDF)
