Rent-in-advance ban drives rise in guarantor requests

This shows how failed Poloticians like Angela Raynor, has absolutely no Idea or thought too the consequences she is implementing into law.
This will become a u turn policy, until her excessive house building policy is completed. I have always asked for a guarantor & always will.

There is an interesting warning sign in the very latest immigration figures. Sponsored-study visa applications in the 12 months to July 2026 stood at 381,500, down 11% compared with the previous 12 months.
A student housing survey conducted before the legislation found that, among international students who had been asked to provide a UK homeowner guarantor, 34% were unable to meet that requirement. Previously, paying several months’ rent in advance was one of the main ways around this difficulty. That 34% does not represent students abandoning university altogether; rather, it highlights the scale of the problem in meeting guarantor requirements.
This is where the law of unintended consequences may begin to take effect. Universities could end up losing substantial numbers of international students who genuinely want to study in England but are unable to secure accommodation because they cannot provide a suitable guarantor. Faced with that obstacle, some may be forced to relocate, defer their studies, or choose another country in which to study instead.
In attempting to protect tenants, the legislation may therefore create a serious and largely foreseeable problem for both international students and the universities that depend upon them.

Reply to the comment left by Perc666 music at 24/08/2026 – 07:31
Or.
A ban on guarantors- to ‘enable access’….

Reply to the comment left by Mr Blueberry at 24/08/2026 – 08:20
Surely.
This in a business opportunity.
I’m not sure if a LL could do this themselves.
Set up an ‘arms length’ guarentor company. It should not be too difficult with international students.

Reply to the comment left by Perc666 music at 24/08/2026 – 07:31
Other than for my OWN children I cannot think of any reason why I would wish to be a guarantor for anybody.

The Labour Renters Rights Act increases the risks both for landlords and for guarantors.

Reply to the comment left by Mr Blueberry at 08:20
I am sure you are right. In any event there is bound to be a wave of mergers of Universities, there are too many places and kids have got wise to the demerits of loading up on debt to obtain what is often a vanity project ill equipping the graduand for the job market. Our degrees in the main want to be less academically focussed and more vocational skills useful. Too many people reading airy fairy French 60s philosophy!

Reply to the comment left by Jim K at 24/08/2026 – 08:51
You might think this is an opportunity…all well and good when you complete the right-to-rent checks at the beginning of the tenancy…but what do you do when the tenant’s visa expires and they decide not to go home? What exactly do you think that you should be ‘guaranteeing’ and for how long?

I can see why an employer might want to act as a guarantor for a particularly valuable employee, but since the introduction of the Labour Renters Rights Act I cannot see why anybody would wish to take the risk of being a guarantor at all (other than for a family member).

Reply to the comment left by Beaver at 24/08/2026 – 10:49
On reflection and having re-read your comment….I think that perhaps what you mean is that for the very rich overseas families that have large amounts of cash but for whom acting as a guarantor would be a worthless guarantee because they are non-UK resident then your company would take their cash and hold it in a UK company or some other company and guarantee to pay the rent for a period of time, although not in advance to avoid breaching the Act. However, if somebody were to do this there would still be increased risks both for the landlord and also for the guarantor so to make it work you would be having to increase the rent a lot.

Previously, the landlord could just take the rent in advance and before the Labour Renters Rights Act there was always the backstop of no-fault evictions.

Reply to the comment left by Perc666 music at 07:31
Yet another consequence of this disastrous act
We used to have quite a number of people who various reasons had no job or were coming from abroad as a student or otherwise and would not pass any credit check but would be happy to pay six months or a year in advance.
Now we just simply have to say no to them. Pathetic

Soon they will be banning guarantors to make it fairer to those that can’t get one.