Renters Rights Act means parents acting as guarantor for student tenancies could be liable for all tenants' rent and damage

Another spectacular own goal hidden in the RRA and one which has received less coverage than it should have done. Upfront rental payments enabled young people without or without a good UK credit rating including foreign workers and students to pay their rent up front, giving their landlord peace of mind that they could afford the rent they were signing up for.
By banning up front payments the Government have made securing a home much harder, particularly for young people. Securing a roof over your head was already hard enough without this added wrinkle in the system.
Guarantor insurance products will go some way to alleviating this pressure, if you’re lucky enough to be able to find a guarantor who also passes referencing.

Parents understandably want to help their children secure student accommodation, but acting as guarantor shouldn’t be treated as just signing another form. Before agreeing, they need to understand exactly whose rent and damage they could become liable for and for how long. In a large shared house, that potential exposure could be far greater than they expect.

Through BLD’s coverage of property finance, we regularly see how a rule intended to protect one party can move risk elsewhere. This became personal when we acted as guarantor for our son after he completed university and moved to start a new job.

Despite having employment, he still needed parental backing. Graduates and other renters relocating for work must also find a deposit and their first month’s rent before receiving their first salary. Preventing larger advance-rent demands removes one barrier, but does not make that initial move affordable.

The Renters’ Rights Act does not itself make guarantors liable for every tenant’s rent or damage; that depends on the guarantee. In a joint tenancy, however, parents may accept liability extending beyond their own child.

Insurance could be useful if it genuinely covers joint liabilities, damage and continuing tenancies, with clear limits and exclusions. It should not replace carefully checking what the guarantor is being asked to sign.

In fairness, most parents didn’t pay their studying child’s rent in advance before the advent of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, but whatever the case, they were usually always asked to stand guarantor in the same circumstances described here, so nothing’s really changed in that respect.

What has changed is that most students would pay their rent when they received their loans/support each term. They can still do this during (not before) the tenancy, but their tenancy agreements cannot require it. If the student chooses to do so, the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 doesn’t prohibit this, so parent and child can still arrange their affairs as they choose. Insurance is always a good thing especially if it brings peace of mind, irrespective of whether against real or even misconceived risks.