Updating post from Reddit.
Hi I’m an international student and am currently looking for apartments to rent in London, however, most places want me to pay in advance which I’m unable to do, the only way I can pay monthly is if I had a Guarantor. Does anyone know how I’m able to find one?
Someone who is willing to be your guarantor there isn’t any way round it.
Do you happen to know any websites/services where I’m able to find one?
No those will be scams. Guarantor is someone that you know and can vouch for you. The landlord will chase the guarantor if you fail to pay your rent.
I used RentGuarantor service, it wasn’t a scam
are you sure all are scams tho or are you saying most are? I’ve seen some people suggest specific sources on Reddit that they’ve had good experiences with🤔
Some landlords won’t accept some scam website. Maybe some are legit I guess.
It's an individual who is a homeowner. It's unlikely you'll find a stranger to help. Sorry
This. Specifically someone who owns a home in the UK.
Yes thanks for the additional point re: UK
Not always required to be a home owner, but their income needs to be sufficient to be able to cover their expenses and the rental
No one is going to be a Guarantor to a random third party. However, I have seen some insitutions do it such as Churches or other close-nit organisations.
Their are also commercial services like Housing Hand, but you have to find a landlord that is willing to accept this alternative.
You cannot pay for a guarantor. No sane person would act as a guarantor for someone they don’t know for a fee only to be liable for a larger payment. If they do it is a scam. Either have someone you know and who trusts you to act as guarantor or speak to the place you will be studying for support and they may be able to find you lodgings.
I used RentGuarantor service, it wasn’t a scam
Needs to be a person you know with good credit. They will be credit checked and income checked just like you.
The only company I would accept as guarantor is the employer of the person.
I had a tenant who was fresh in the UK, had no history or anything but he loved the place so much he twisted the arm of his (large) company to be guarantor. Only seen that once though,
Unfortunately the recent legislation to (supposedly) protect tenants in the UK will have completely stuffed you up. No ability to charge rent upfront even if you wanted to which means that many landlord's won't even consider you. And frankly since you say that you cannot pay upfront anyway even if you did want to you would be way too high a risk given the legislation.
I know a few large agencies that get around it by just splitting it into 70-80% upfront and the rest when the usual first payment would be
Think this will be prohibited. So self employed tenants, asset rich tenants without a salary and foreigners can jump in the lake per government edict. Dumb politicians.
U might be lucky my current landlord said needed six months in advance but seems they don’t want it now just monthly payments
Your school / university should have a dept that can advise you
There are companies that provide a guarantor service, I dont know any LLs who accept it. We would strongly discourage a LL from accepting this type of service.
Maybe see if you can find a room to rent where there are less regulations so LLs are less scared of having a nightmare tenant.
My landlord accepted RentGuarantor as a service, they didn’t understand what it was at first but sent over plenty of information and was good with it.
Yeah some will, its incredibly stupid on their part.
Why is it?
Sorry my last post was daft, they are not something I am fond of, but understand why they are useful.
They are great for tenants and not so good for LL.
They tend to cover the first tenancy only, not any subsequent or periodic carry on.
I have heard several horror stories where the tenant has lied to the guarantor service and because of this the guarantor service wont pay out. This is my BIG issue, the LL is reliant on the contract between the tenant and another company and those parties all upholding their obligations.
A lot dont cover damage.
My first tenant was a student with a china address, but he was an intern who had his company as guarantor.
Consider lodging.
There are companies who offer a guarantor service, for a fee of course. Housing Hand and Rent Guarantor are widely used by students.
My best friend used an online service when she moved in with me. It was around £100.
It was rentguarantor.com it seems to be a bit more expensive now.
It worked fine for her. They give you an actual person as a guarantor. You do have to sign some pretty serious contracts with them though.
How serious?
They will bankrupt you, if they become liable for any damages or payments that you don’t pay for.
We had to pay £660 for the year
There are companies that can act as guarantors, a quick google should help find some. One of the most popular is housing hand as another had commented
RentGuarantor is a good one too.