Do I need a guarantor for renting? The position in 2026
A guarantor is someone, usually a UK-based homeowner with a steady income, who signs a legal agreement to pay your rent or cover damage if you don't. Landlords typically ask for one when your income or credit history doesn't satisfy their referencing checks. Your landlord can't charge your guarantor any fee, the guarantee must be in writing to be enforceable, and if you can't find a guarantor there are workable alternatives. This guide covers what landlords ask of guarantors, what the agreement really commits them to, when their liability ends, and what to do if nobody can stand for you.
2026 update - Renters' Rights Act 2025: Renting law has changed significantly. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 abolishes Section 21 'no-fault' evictions, ends fixed-term assured shorthold tenancies in favour of rolling periodic tenancies, and creates a new mandatory PRS Landlord Ombudsman plus a Private Rented Sector Database that landlords must join. The Act is being brought in over 2026, so check the current commencement position for any specific provision. See our Renters' Rights Act 2025 guide for the full picture.
Guarantor requests have become more common since 1 May 2026, because the Renters' Rights Act 2025 stopped landlords taking more than one month's rent in advance. The old workaround for a failed credit check, offering 6 months' rent up front, is now unlawful, so a guarantor is often the only extra security a landlord can ask for. That makes it worth understanding exactly what your guarantor signs up to before anyone puts pen to paper.
What does a guarantor need to qualify?
Most landlords and letting agents want a guarantor who lives in the UK, passes a credit check, and has enough income to cover the rent on top of their own outgoings. Many also prefer a homeowner, because property gives the landlord something to enforce against if the guarantor doesn't pay. None of these tests is set by law; each landlord decides their own.
There's no fixed UK-wide income figure. Referencing firms commonly work to around 36 times the monthly rent as a gross annual income target, which is 3 times the annual rent, though some accept 30 times, and Hamptons' guidance for tenants notes agents set the requirement tenancy by tenancy. On an £850 per month flat, 36x means the guarantor showing roughly £30,600 a year.
| What landlords commonly ask | Typical benchmark | Why they ask | |---|---|---| | UK resident | Lives in England or Wales for most lets | A court judgment is far easier to enforce against someone in the jurisdiction | | Homeowner | Preferred, not a legal requirement | Property ownership gives the landlord a recoverable asset | | Income | Commonly around 36x the monthly rent a year (some accept 30x) | Shows the guarantor could pay your rent and their own bills at the same time | | Credit check | No CCJs, bankruptcy or heavy arrears | The guarantor is only useful if they're good for the money | | Documents | Photo ID, proof of address, payslips or accounts, sometimes a mortgage statement | Standard referencing evidence |
Your guarantor will go through referencing much like you did. The difference under the Tenant Fees Act 2019 is that nobody can be billed for it.
What does a guarantor agreement actually make someone liable for?
The agreement, not the label, decides. Most guarantor agreements make the guarantor liable for unpaid rent and for damage beyond fair wear and tear, for as long as the tenancy lasts. Some go wider and guarantee every obligation in the tenancy agreement, including bills, cleaning and legal costs. Your guarantor should read the tenancy agreement as carefully as the guarantee itself, because they're standing behind whatever it contains.
A guarantee is only enforceable if it's in writing and signed by the guarantor (or someone authorised to sign for them). That rule comes from section 4 of the Statute of Frauds 1677, which is still in force. A landlord who claims your mum "verbally agreed" to guarantee the rent typically has nothing they can enforce.
The classic trap sits in joint tenancies. If you share with others on one tenancy agreement, you're each usually liable for the whole rent, not just your room. A guarantee that covers "the tenant's obligations under the tenancy" can therefore make your guarantor liable for every housemate's arrears, not only yours. Shelter warns about exactly this: some agreements let the landlord pursue a guarantor when any of the joint tenants stops paying. Before signing, a guarantor may want to ask for wording that names one tenant and caps liability at that tenant's share of the rent. Landlords don't have to agree, but many will rather than lose a good applicant.
Can a landlord charge my guarantor a fee?
No. The Tenant Fees Act 2019 bans landlords and letting agents in England from requiring any payment that isn't on its list of permitted payments, and the ban protects "relevant persons" as well as tenants. Section 1(9) of the Act defines a relevant person to include anyone "who has guaranteed the payment of rent by" a tenant. Guarantor fees, referencing fees and charges for drawing up a guarantee agreement aren't on the permitted list, so demanding them is unlawful.
If your guarantor has paid a banned fee, there's a concrete route to get it back:
- Ask in writing for a refund, citing the Tenant Fees Act 2019, and give the landlord or agent 14 days to pay.
- Report the breach to your local council's trading standards team if they refuse. Enforcement authorities can fine a landlord or agent up to £5,000 for a first breach, rising to up to £30,000 or criminal prosecution for a repeat breach within 5 years.
- Apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) under section 15 of the Act to recover the money. Tribunal repayment orders typically give the landlord 7 to 14 days to pay and can be enforced through the county court if ignored.
The same Act caps tenancy deposits at 5 weeks' rent where the annual rent is under £50,000 (6 weeks at £50,000 or more), so a landlord can't respond to a missing guarantor by demanding an oversized deposit either.
When does a guarantor's liability stop?
A guarantee typically runs until the tenancy ends, unless the agreement itself sets an earlier cut-off. Since 1 May 2026 that has a cleaner meaning than it used to: assured tenancies in England are now open-ended periodic tenancies, and a tenant can end one by giving at least 2 months' notice, with the end date lining up with the end of a rent period. Once the tenancy ends and any final arrears are settled, the guarantor is off the hook.
Three points are worth checking in the wording:
- Open-ended guarantees. Many agreements say the guarantee covers "any extension, renewal or continuation" of the tenancy. Under the new periodic regime that can mean liability with no fixed end date until the tenant actually leaves. A guarantor may be able to negotiate a review date or a right to withdraw on notice, though the landlord could then seek possession only on the legal grounds available to them.
- Changes to the tenancy. A significant change the guarantee never contemplated, such as a new joint tenant or a rent rise outside the agreement's wording, may release the guarantor. This depends heavily on the drafting, so anyone in this position should take advice before assuming they're free of it.
- Death of the tenant. For guarantees entered into on or after 1 May 2026, section 19 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 makes the guarantee of no effect for rent falling due after the tenant dies. In joint tenancies the protection applies once the relevant tenant (or, where the guarantor stood for several family members, all of them) has died. Grieving families can no longer be chased for rent on a tenancy the deceased can't use. Older guarantees may not have this protection, so check the date of signature.
What changed under the Renters' Rights Act 2025?
Beyond the headline reforms in the update box above, three changes bear directly on guarantors. First, the advance rent cap: section 8 of the Act inserts a new section 4B into the Housing Act 1988, making tenancy terms of no effect so far as they require rent in advance, while section 9 amends the Tenant Fees Act 2019 so that rent demanded before the tenancy agreement is signed is a prohibited payment. The government's own guide states a landlord can require at most one month's rent (or 28 days' rent where the rental period is shorter than a month) once the agreement is signed and before the tenancy starts. Offering a big lump sum instead of a guarantor is no longer an option, for you or the landlord.
Second, the death protection under section 19, covered above. Third, the shift to periodic tenancies changes the shape of what's being guaranteed: there's no fixed term after which a guarantee naturally lapses, so the wording on duration matters more than it did before May 2026.
What are my options if I can't find a guarantor?
You can pay for a commercial guarantor service, ask your council about a rent deposit or bond scheme, or strengthen your application with better evidence. Landlords refuse plenty of applicants with guarantors and accept plenty without, so treat a guarantor as one form of reassurance among several, not a fixed entry requirement.
| Alternative | Typical cost | How it works | |---|---|---| | Commercial guarantor service (Housing Hand and similar) | Commonly 55% to 95% of one month's rent per year, often a £295 minimum; university-partnered rates can drop to around 5.5% of the annual rent | The company acts as your guarantor for an annual fee. You stay liable to repay them anything they pay out | | Council rent deposit or bond scheme | Usually free; some are grants, others interest-free loans | The council provides a cash deposit, a written bond in place of a deposit, or a month's rent in advance. Mostly aimed at people who are homeless or at risk of it | | One month's rent in advance | One rent period, after signing | The legal maximum since 1 May 2026. You can't offer more even voluntarily | | Stronger referencing evidence | Free | Bank statements showing consistent rent payments, an employer's letter, previous landlord references, a standing order set up before move-in | | University guarantor schemes | Free or low-cost | Many universities guarantee rent for their own students, particularly international students who can't provide a UK guarantor |
Shelter's Help to Rent database lists local deposit and bond schemes, and charities or trade unions sometimes offer grants through Turn2us. If an agent tells you a guarantor is compulsory for every tenancy, that's their policy, not the law; a different landlord may take a different view of the same application.
Guarantor requests usually arrive at the same stage as referencing, so it's worth reading our guide to credit checks and guarantors before you apply, and our tenant rights hub for what landlords can and can't ask of you. If a past landlord made deductions your guarantor ended up covering, the deposit disputes guide explains how to challenge them.
If your deposit was never protected in a government scheme, you may be entitled to compensation of 1-3x the deposit - check free.