One in five tenants need a guarantor to rent

Twenty percent of prospective tenants cannot afford to rent a property without using a guarantor. 

Goodlord analysed 55,000 tenants who applied for a rental property through its platform in 2018, and found that a fifth of those tenants required a guarantor in order to proceed with their application.

In the majority of cases, requiring a guarantor is due to the prospective tenant failing an affordability test. Although there is no industry standard for affordability, Goodlord defines affordability as a prospective tenant’s yearly rent share being below 40% of their yearly earnings. 

Renters aged between 20 and 30 are twice as likely to require a guarantor than someone over 30.

The overall proportion of renters requiring guarantors has remained steady compared to 2017.

Our analysis also found that the average renter in the UK spends 32% of their income on rent, a slight improvement on last year’s figure of 32.5%.

Londoners spend the highest proportion of their income on rent at 35%, while people in the Midlands spend the lowest proportion at 27%.