Do I Need a Guarantor for My Tenancy? A Landlord's Guide for England (2026)

If you have asked yourself “do I need a guarantor for tenancy lets I take on?”, the honest answer is: not always, but in the right circumstances a guarantor is the single most effective way to protect your rental income. There is no law in England that forces a landlord to take a guarantor, and there is no law that forces an applicant to provide one. It is a commercial decision you make case by case, based on the risk an individual applicant presents. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (in force from 1 May 2026) changed a great deal about how tenancies work, fixed terms are gone, Section 21 is abolished and every assured tenancy is now periodic, but it did not abolish guarantors. They remain a perfectly lawful tool, and arguably a more important one now that regaining possession takes longer and runs only through Section 8 grounds.

This guide explains what a guarantor actually is, when it is sensible to require one, when it is not, the factors that justify the request, and how the 2026 legal landscape changes the calculation.

What a guarantor is and why landlords ask for one

A guarantor is a third party, usually a parent, close relative or employer, who signs a legally binding deed promising to cover the tenant’s obligations if the tenant fails to. In practice that means paying the rent if it falls into arrears and covering the cost of damage or breaches beyond the deposit. If you want the full definition, role and the extent of a guarantor’s liability, read our companion guide on what a tenancy guarantor is.

The reason landlords ask is simple: the deposit is capped. Under the Tenant Fees Act 2019 a security deposit cannot exceed five weeks’ rent (or six weeks’ where annual rent is £50,000 or more). Five weeks of cover does not go far if a tenant stops paying and it then takes months to recover possession. A guarantor effectively extends your recovery beyond the deposit and gives you a second, often more financially stable, person to pursue.

What a guarantor is not

A guarantor is not a substitute for proper checks. You should still complete full tenant referencing on the applicant themselves; a guarantor is a backstop, not a reason to skip diligence. A guarantor is also not a way to charge a fee, you cannot require an applicant to pay for the privilege of providing one, and any such charge would breach the Tenant Fees Act.

So, do I need a guarantor for tenancy applicants? The short answer

You “need” a guarantor only when the affordability or reliability of the applicant does not stand up on its own. For a salaried tenant whose income comfortably clears the rent and who references cleanly, a guarantor is usually unnecessary and asking for one can simply lose you a good tenant to a competing landlord. For applicants who fall short of your affordability threshold, a guarantor turns a “no” into a conditional “yes”.

The standard affordability rule of thumb used across the industry is that gross annual income should be at least 30 times the monthly rent (equivalently, rent should be no more than around 30–35% of gross income). When an applicant clears that comfortably, the case for a guarantor weakens. When they fall below it, a guarantor is the obvious bridge.

When a guarantor is genuinely justified

There are several recurring situations where requiring a guarantor is reasonable, proportionate and defensible:

• The applicant fails the income/affordability test. Their earnings are real but do not reach the 30x multiple. A guarantor who does clear the threshold closes the gap.
• Students and recent graduates. Most students have little or no independent income, so a parental guarantor is standard practice in the student market.
• First-time renters with no rental history. A clean previous-landlord reference is impossible to obtain where none exists. A guarantor compensates for the absent track record.
• Self-employed applicants with variable or hard-to-verify income. Where accounts are thin, recently started, or income is lumpy, a guarantor reduces uncertainty.
• Applicants with adverse credit. A County Court Judgment (CCJ), a past default or a thin credit file raises the risk profile. See what these markers mean in our guide to tenant credit checks.
• Applicants relying partly on benefits or third-party support. Where the income picture is mixed, a guarantor adds certainty.
• Overseas applicants who cannot easily be referenced or pursued through the English courts. A UK-based guarantor gives you a domestic party to enforce against.

The unifying theme is risk. If something about the application means you cannot be confident the rent will be paid for the lifetime of the tenancy, a guarantor is the proportionate response.

When a guarantor is probably overkill

Equally, there are cases where insisting on a guarantor is unnecessary and may cost you the let:

• A long-term professional tenant with verifiable salary well above the affordability threshold and clean references.
• A retiree or person of independent means with provable assets or pension income.
• A returning tenant you have rented to before with a flawless payment record.

In a competitive area, demanding a guarantor from a plainly affordable applicant signals distrust and can push them towards a more accommodating landlord.

How the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 changes the guarantor calculation

The big shift since 1 May 2026 is that you can no longer end a tenancy on a no-fault basis. Section 21 is abolished and there are no more fixed terms, every assured tenancy is now a rolling periodic tenancy. The tenant can leave on two months’ notice, but you can only regain possession by using a Section 8 ground served on the current prescribed form on GOV.UK.

What does that mean for guarantors? Two things:

1. Recovery takes longer, so arrears can run deeper. The mandatory rent-arrears ground (Ground 8) now requires at least three months’ (or 13 weeks’) arrears at both the date of notice and the date of hearing, and the notice period has lengthened under the new regime. By the time you reach a possession order, the unpaid sum may be substantial, far more than five weeks’ deposit. A guarantor’s importance therefore rises, not falls.

2. There is no fixed end date to “wait out”. Under the old assured shorthold tenancy regime a landlord could sometimes simply decline to renew a poor payer at the end of the fixed term. That option is gone. A guarantor gives you a financial remedy that does not depend on the timing of possession.

A common practical question is what a guarantor is now liable for, given there is no fixed term. The safest position is to draft the guarantee so it covers the tenant’s obligations for the duration of the periodic tenancy, not just an initial fixed period, otherwise the guarantee may lapse and leave you unprotected during exactly the period when arrears are most likely. Get the wording right with our RRA-compliant guarantor agreement template and the clause-by-clause walkthrough in what a guarantor agreement must include.

Guarantor vs the alternatives: a decision table

A guarantor is not your only option for managing income risk. The main alternatives are rent guarantee insurance and a larger (but still capped) deposit. Here is how they compare:

For a deeper comparison of the first two rows, see guarantor or rent guarantee insurance. If the applicant proposes a paid guarantor company rather than a personal one, weigh that carefully using guarantor services vs a personal guarantor.

What makes a guarantor worth having

Asking for a guarantor only helps if the guarantor is actually good for the money. A guarantor with no income or assets is worthless as security. When you accept one, reference them as you would a tenant:

• Income. A common standard is that a guarantor should earn at least 36 times the monthly rent annually (higher than the tenant’s own multiple, because they are covering someone else’s liability on top of their own commitments).
• UK residence. A guarantor based in England (or at least the UK) can be pursued through the courts. An overseas guarantor is difficult and expensive to enforce against.
• Homeownership or stable assets. A homeowner has something to claim against; this strengthens the guarantee considerably.
• Clean credit. Run the same checks you would on a tenant.

Critically, the guarantee must be a properly executed deed, signed before the tenancy begins, with the guarantor having had a genuine opportunity to read it. A guarantee scribbled on the bottom of the tenancy agreement, or signed after move-in, is far more vulnerable to challenge.

Worked example: weighing the decision

Consider a one-bedroom flat in Leeds let at £900 per month (£10,800 a year). Your affordability threshold at 30x monthly rent is £27,000 gross income.

Applicant A is a 24-year-old marketing assistant earning £24,000. She references cleanly, has no adverse credit and a glowing previous-landlord reference, but her income is below your £27,000 threshold, she falls short by £3,000. This is a textbook guarantor case. Her father, a homeowner earning £45,000 (comfortably above the 36x guarantor multiple of £32,400), agrees to act. You accept the application with a guarantor deed covering the periodic tenancy. The shortfall risk is neutralised, and you have let to a tenant who will probably stay for years.

Applicant B earns £40,000, references cleanly and clears every threshold. Demanding a guarantor here adds nothing and risks losing him to the landlord down the road who does not ask. You let to him on the strength of his own profile.

Applicant C is self-employed with declared income of £28,000 but only eight months of trading history and a CCJ from three years ago. He nominally clears the income test, but the short trading record and adverse marker raise real doubt. A guarantor, or, if the tenant prefers and qualifies, rent guarantee insurance, is the proportionate response. If he can offer neither, the safest course may be to decline.

The pattern is clear: the question is never “do I always take a guarantor?” but “does this specific applicant’s risk justify one?”

Practical and legal cautions

• Do not discriminate. Your guarantor policy must not be a back-door way to exclude protected groups. A blanket rule that, for example, only certain nationalities must supply a guarantor could breach the Equality Act 2010. Tie the requirement to objective affordability and referencing outcomes, applied consistently to all applicants.
• No fees. You cannot charge for a guarantor arrangement under the Tenant Fees Act 2019.
• Keep the deposit lawful. A guarantor does not let you exceed the five-week deposit cap. The two are separate protections.
• Get the guarantee executed correctly. Use a deed, signed before the tenancy starts, witnessed as required, and make sure it expressly survives into the periodic phase of the tenancy.

Frequently asked questions

Is a guarantor a legal requirement for a tenancy in England?

No. There is no law requiring a guarantor, and applicants are not legally obliged to provide one. It is entirely a commercial decision for the landlord, based on the risk the individual applicant presents. Many tenancies proceed with no guarantor at all.

Can I ask every tenant for a guarantor as a blanket policy?

You can, but it is rarely wise. Insisting on a guarantor from plainly affordable, well-referenced applicants can lose you good tenants in a competitive market, and a blanket policy risks looking arbitrary. It is better to apply the requirement to applicants who fail your affordability or referencing thresholds. Be careful that any policy does not indirectly discriminate against protected groups under the Equality Act 2010.

How much should a guarantor earn?

A common industry benchmark is that a guarantor should earn at least 36 times the monthly rent per year, higher than the roughly 30x multiple applied to the tenant, because the guarantor is taking on someone else’s liability on top of their own outgoings. Always reference the guarantor for income, credit and UK residence so the guarantee is actually worth something.

Does a guarantor’s liability end now that there are no fixed terms?

It does not have to, but you must draft for it. Because every tenancy is now a rolling periodic tenancy with no fixed end date, the guarantee should expressly state that it covers the tenant’s obligations for the whole duration of the periodic tenancy. A guarantee tied only to an “initial term” risks lapsing, leaving you exposed during the period when arrears are most likely to build up.

Is rent guarantee insurance better than a guarantor?

Neither is universally better. Rent guarantee insurance gives you predictable cover for a defined period without having to chase an individual through court, but it costs a premium and the tenant must usually pass referencing to qualify. A personal guarantor costs nothing up front but is only as reliable as the guarantor’s own finances and must be enforced via the courts. Many landlords use one or the other depending on the applicant.

Can I charge the tenant for arranging a guarantor?

No. Under the Tenant Fees Act 2019 you cannot charge a tenant a fee for providing or arranging a guarantor. Doing so would be a prohibited payment and could expose you to penalties.

Coming soon

Deciding whether to require a guarantor is only half the job, getting the deed drafted correctly, executed before move-in and written to survive into the periodic tenancy is where landlords most often slip up. Tenancy Pilot is launching soon with a guarantor deed generator that produces a clean, RRA-aware guarantor agreement, alongside guided tenant referencing and a document command-centre that keeps your guarantee, tenancy agreement and deposit paperwork in one place with deadline alerts. It is not live yet, join the waitlist to be first in when it opens.

This article is general information for England landlords and is not legal advice. The law changes and individual circumstances vary. Always check the current position on GOV.UK and legislation.gov.uk, and consult a qualified solicitor before relying on a guarantor arrangement or taking possession action.