Research from Housing Hand shows that over the last quarter, there has been a 37% year on year rise in the number of students applying for a UK guarantor, due to landlords and letting agents being forced to turn away tenants who fail credit checks, or losing them to competitors who don't ask tenants to pay 6-12 months in advance to secure a rental property.
Further findings from Housing Hand show that the average deposit for student or young professional accommodation in London is now sitting at £1,044, based on an average monthly rent of £696. Based on these figures, potential tenants without a UK guarantor would have to find £5,220 to cover the deposit and six month’s rent. Even if potential tenants can pay in advance, they may still need a UK guarantor. This can be a huge worry and for many, a real obstacle to leaving home for university or work.
Jeremy Robinson, Managing Director of Housing Hand comments: “Students and young professionals are struggling to secure rental accommodation as they are failing credit checks. It is understandable that letting agents and landlords have a big concern around rent arrears and many just don’t want to take the risk.
However, we mitigate all the risks for letting agents and landlords by becoming the potential tenant’s UK Guarantor. We provide tenants who have failed a credit check with guarantor liability insurance policy. This ensures that the rent payments are paid in the event of the tenant defaulting on the rent. Landlords and letting agents who are partnered with us have been able to increase occupancy, due to larger pool of applicants that can now qualify and they have been able to eliminate the risk of rent loss, due to tenant default, at no cost to them.
Currently, we stand as guarantor for tenants from 141 countries and have had over 50,000 happy applicants. We help international students, graduating university students, professional school students entering the workforce, employed UK nationals and non-UK nationals, self-employed persons and UK students with responsible parties to secure rental accommodation.”
