The cost-of-living crisis combined with a logjam in the courts means landlords are now very unlikely to rent properties without guarantors being in place, according to outspoken Jonathan Rolande of the National Association of Property Buyers Rolande claims the rental market currently remains so hot that tenants who do not provide private guarantors have virtually no chance of getting the keys to a property. 

He added: A few years ago, tenants who were unable to provide guarantors still had a pretty good chance of finding private landlords who would rent them, now there is virtually no chance!!

Why? because the private rental market remains so hot that tenants who cannot provide guarantors can almost be discarded.

He also cites another big factor is that courts are too slow to evict a non-paying tenant. Rolande claims that the decision to stop paying rent by many tenants often goes hand in hand with other issues, such as anti-social behavior & property damage, and in the majority, of cases, the maximum deposit of five weeks' rent taken by the landlord goes nowhere near covering repair/replacement cost of items in an average rental property, let alone other repair costs missed rent, etc.

 Offering his advice to landlords on how best to make clear you need a guarantor he says:  If you’re using a letting agent, stipulate that you would like a guarantor for your property. It involves extra referencing and may put off some potential tenants but most people understand the reasons behind it. If you are letting privately there will need to be checks and a formal agreement from the guarantor to cover any rent shortfalls or damage over and above the deposit. Guarantors should be financially stable and ideally own a UK property which can be additional reassurance for a landlord, as such individuals are unlikely to offer to be a guarantor for a friend or even a family member if they had doubts about them.

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