Landlords are becoming more cautious about renting properties to higher-risk tenants, new research has highlighted.

Estate agency CRM Alto, which conducted the research among 250 letting agencies, reveals that a third of these agents said more landlords within their portfolios are now requiring tenants to provide a guarantor when compared to a year ago. And 11% of agents reported a ‘big increase’ in requests.

This has all been predicted for some time. The Renters’ Rights Act after 1 May will ban landlords and agents demanding rent in advance; one of the ways many landlords until now offset risk when dealing with tenants with poor or non-existent tenancy histories.

In addition to this, no-fault ‘section 21’ evictions are being banned, which will see an end to the ‘accelerated’ method of removing poorly behaved tenants or those in serious arrears. In future, all evictions will have to go through the already choked county court system.

Alto says its latest Agency Trends Report suggests strongly, as do many industry leaders, that this is already reshaping how landlords assess risk at the point of tenancy.

Landlords are nervous, and that’s feeding through into stricter tenant requirements.”

Stricter requirements

“Landlords are nervous, and that’s feeding through into stricter tenant requirements,” said Riccardo Iannucci-Dawson, CEO of Alto.

“Higher borrowing costs, regulatory reform and longer eviction timelines all change the risk equation. When landlords feel they have less room for error, they look for additional safeguards.”

“Guarantors are increasingly seen as a financial safety net,” added Iannucci-Dawson.

“But this also adds complexity for agents. More referencing, more paperwork, more compliance checks and more room for friction if processes aren’t streamlined.”

Read the full Alto 2026 Agency Trends Report.