More renters than ever are reaching the same point in their search. They have found a property they can afford, but they cannot provide the one thing the landlord asks for next: a UK guarantor. We see this first-hand. Housing Hand has supported over 100,000 tenants from more than 150 countries, and the first half of 2026 has been our busiest since 2013, with applications up nearly 40% compared with the same period in 2025.
This guide explains what is behind that demand. It covers why guarantors are so widely required, what has made the requirement harder to meet, and what your options are if no one in your life qualifies.
When a landlord asks for a guarantor, what they are really asking for is reassurance. A guarantor agrees to cover the rent if the tenant cannot, which gives the landlord a named person to turn to if something goes wrong. That reassurance matters most when an applicant is new to the UK or has little local financial history for a referencing agency to assess. Our guide to who can be a guarantor sets out the role and the requirements in full.
The request is routine and not a judgment on the tenant. The difficulty is rarely whether you can pay the rent. It is about finding someone who meets the landlord's criteria and is willing to sign, and that part has become noticeably harder.
The first driver is straightforward. As rents have gone up, so has the income a guarantor needs to show. The average UK monthly private rent reached £1,383 in the 12 months to May 2026, a rise of 3.3%. In London and parts of the South East, the figure is considerably higher.
Most landlords ask a guarantor to earn around two to three times the annual rent. When rents rise, that threshold rises with them. A guarantor who comfortably met the requirement a few years ago may no longer earn enough on paper, even though nothing about their finances has changed. This quietly narrows the pool of people who can qualify.
For tenants, this changes the pace of the search. Good properties are secured quickly, often by whoever completes referencing first. A renter who still needs to find a guarantor, explain the role, and wait for them to pass checks can lose the property before the paperwork is done. Having a guarantor ready in advance has become part of competing for a home, not just a formality at the end.
The third driver is the most personal. A growing share of renters do not have anyone in their lives who meets the requirements. The criteria tend to overlap in ways that rule out many potential supporters at once: a guarantor usually needs to be a UK resident, earn enough, and pass a UK credit check.
This affects several groups in particular:
In each case, the person could pay the rent without difficulty. The obstacle is structural, not financial.
For international students and new arrivals, the challenge is sharper still. Even with savings or high overseas income, most landlords require a UK-based guarantor who can be credit-checked and pursued under UK law if needed. An overseas parent, however willing and well able to help, usually cannot meet that test.
The result is a frustrating gap. An otherwise suitable applicant is ready to rent, can provide evidence of funds, and wants to move in, yet is turned down or delayed because the guarantor requirement cannot be met locally. This is one of the most common reasons international tenants come to us, and it is rarely about affordability.
The route many renters once used to work around the guarantor requirement has narrowed. In the past, a tenant without a guarantor could often offer several months' rent in advance instead. The rules on rent in advance have since changed under the Renters' Rights Act, which came into force in England on 1 May 2026. Our Renters' Rights guide explains the current position.
The Act has also moved tenancies to a periodic, rolling basis rather than fixed terms. For guarantors, the practical point is simply that a guarantor agreement needs to suit how tenancies now work. Together, these changes mean that for many renters, the realistic alternative is no longer paying upfront but arranging a guarantor in another way.
A professional guarantor service closes this gap. Instead of asking a parent, relative, or friend to take on legal responsibility, a professional guarantor service stands as your guarantor. Housing Hand has done this since 2013, and we are now the UK's leading rent guarantor service, partnered with more than 4,000 accommodation providers across the UK. We sign the guarantor agreement directly with your landlord and hold that responsibility for the length of your tenancy.
We do not run credit checks on you or your co-signer, and your co-signer only needs to provide ID and proof of address. That means someone who would never pass a standard income and credit test can still support you, because they are simply a second point of contact rather than a full guarantor.
You can also be ready before you start viewing. With a pre-approved Guarantor Passport®, you can show a landlord that your guarantor is already in place, so you can move as quickly as the market expects. And if your rent is ever difficult to pay, we will pay the landlord on your behalf and agree a repayment plan with you so that you can stay in your home.
For many tenants, the ability to rent now comes down to a single question: Can I provide a guarantor? When the answer is no, it is usually because of where someone is in life or where their family lives, rather than because the rent is beyond them.
If finding a UK guarantor is the part of your move that has stalled, that one missing piece does not have to delay everything else. A professional guarantor service like Housing Hand is the route many renters in this position take, and it exists precisely so that a gap in the market does not decide who gets to rent.
Housing Hand is the UK's leading rent guarantor service, trusted by over 100,000 tenants and partnered with more than 4,000 accommodation providers across the UK. We do not run credit checks. Every guarantor customer also gets free 24/7 access to GP and wellbeing support.