Student campaigners demand ban on guarantor requirements for tenants

The National Union of Students (NUS) is calling on the government to make it illegal for landlords to require tenants to have a UK-based guarantor.

Student campaigners argue that the current housing system is “predicated on exploitation and profit extraction,” leaving many student renters vulnerable.

This demand follows an NUS survey revealing that one-third of students are struggling to afford housing costs, with 17% forced to rely on food banks.

Students are suffering at the hands of the housing system

According to the NUS survey, 60% of student renters were required to have a guarantor and 40% of respondents found the process of securing one difficult.

The survey says international students and low-income students face the most difficulty and stress when trying to find a guarantor as they do not have access to the same funds or security net that others may have.

NUS UK President Amira Campbell said: “The results of this research lay bare what we sadly already knew, students and apprentices across the UK are suffering at the hands of a housing system predicated on exploitation and profit extraction.

“We should be ashamed as a society that we are allowing policies like the requirement for a UK-based guarantor to stand as a barrier in the way of our most vulnerable students having a safe and secure place to live.

“Our country’s unfair and inequitable housing system is limiting students and apprentices from feeling part of their communities. We need urgent action from the UK government, and devolved governments in all the nations across the UK, to fix this system and help student renters.”

Nearly half of students have experienced mould or mildew

Other key findings from the survey reveal that 84% of student renters reported encountering issues with their housing, including 48% who have experienced mould or mildew, 44% issues with heating or cooling, and 20% with pest infestations.

Housing costs were confirmed as a continuing problem for students and apprentices with over a third of students (36%) indicating they have difficulty paying their housing costs. Almost 40% of those report going without heating, and 17% have used a food bank.

A third of students (32%) say that they didn’t feel part of their community, which the NUS claims shows the isolating nature of the current student housing system.