Guarantor-backed tenancies surge ahead of Renters’ Rights Act
Generation Rent found that more than 40% of new contracts required a guarantor this year, and there was also an increase in demands for multiple months' rent upfront.
The number of tenancies requiring a guarantor have jumped this year, according to activist group Generation Rent.
More than 40% of renters quizzed by the group said they needed a family member or friend to act as a guarantor when they signed up for a new property this year.
This was up from 33% for tenants who started a tenancy between one and three years ago, and 26% for more than five years ago.
Multiple months
There was also an increase in renters being asked for multiple months’ rent up front from 19% between one and three years, to 23% for less than a year, even though the agreements will be invalid after May.
Generation Rent polled 711 private renters to ‘take the temperature’ of the PRS ahead of the Renters’ Rights Act coming into force in May next year.
The picture is still dire, but in some respects things are easing.”
“The picture is still dire, but in some respects things are easing, with fewer renters being asked to move out, and the size, if not the prevalence, of rent increases, reducing,” it says.
“The proportion of people having to move has fallen since 2024 – particularly as a result of a decline in Section 21 notices.”
And “the proportion of renters who had not moved in the past year and were asked to pay higher rent has not increased, yet numbers remain worryingly high.”
In October, rental services provider Housing Hand said the number of tenancies that required a guarantor had jumped nearly 18% in a year, and was up 30% compared to 2023.
Read the full ‘State of Renting’ report here
