Scope: England. Verified against the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (c.26) on 10 August 2026. Wales operates its own regime for occupation contracts.
Guarantors are the most common way landlords de-risk a thin tenant, and the most commonly defective document in the file.
What a guarantee actually is
A contract between you and the guarantor, under which they answer for the tenant’s obligations. It is separate from the tenancy, and its scope is whatever the document says — not what either party assumed.
It must be in writing and signed by the guarantor to be enforceable, under section 4 of the Statute of Frauds 1677. An email agreement to "stand behind" a tenant is not a guarantee.
What it covers, if drafted properly
- Rent arrears — the usual purpose.
- Damage beyond fair wear and tear, where the wording extends to it.
- Other tenant breaches with a financial consequence.
- Your costs of enforcement, where expressly included.
If the document says "rent", it covers rent. Do not expect to recover damage under it.
The joint tenancy trap
A guarantor for one tenant in a joint tenancy has usually guaranteed the whole rent, not their tenant’s notional share, because joint and several liability means the tenant they guaranteed owes all of it.
Parents signing for a student rarely understand this, and a guarantee that is not explicit about it is a fight waiting to happen. Say so in the document, and say so when they sign.
When liability ends — the part that has changed
Under fixed terms, the natural reading was that a guarantee ran for the term. Fixed terms are gone in England, and an open-ended guarantee on a periodic tenancy that never ends is an open-ended commitment.
What actually ends it:
- The tenancy ends. The guarantee is of that tenancy’s obligations.
- A surrender and re-grant. A new tenancy is not the guaranteed one, so the old guarantee generally falls away — which is why a change of tenant needs a fresh guarantee, not an assumption. See when one tenant leaves.
- A material variation without consent. Changing the deal — notably increasing the rent — can discharge a guarantor who did not agree, unless the document anticipates it. Draft for rent increases explicitly, or ask them to countersign.
- An express term. The document can say the guarantee runs for a defined period or until notice. A guarantor who asks for a limit is being reasonable, and a landlord who refuses one may end up with no guarantor at all.
Death of the guarantor, and death of the tenant
The Renters’ Rights Act limits guarantor liability in the specific case of a tenant’s death — a guarantor should not be pursued for rent falling due after the tenant has died. Check the current position before relying on a guarantee in that situation, and see death of a tenant.
On the guarantor’s own death, liability accrued to that point generally survives against the estate; future liability depends on the wording.
Making one that works
- Separate document, signed by the guarantor, ideally as a deed.
- Name the tenancy — parties, property, start date.
- Say what is covered — rent, damage, costs — rather than leaving it to implication.
- Address joint liability explicitly if it is a joint tenancy.
- Address rent increases, so a lawful increase does not discharge them.
- Say when it ends.
- Reference and affordability check the guarantor. An unenforceable promise from someone with nothing is worse than none, because it stopped you asking for a bigger deposit.
What you cannot do
A guarantee is not a way around the deposit cap or the Tenant Fees Act. Charging the guarantor a fee for the privilege is a prohibited payment, and requiring a guarantee where the real purpose is to exclude a protected group risks falling foul of the rental discrimination ban.
The guarantee sits alongside the tenancy. Check the agreement it guarantees.
Information tool, not legal advice. Guarantee wording decides outcomes; have it drafted.