In the world of tenant referencing, students have always been treated as something of an exception. Unlike the typical working tenant, students rarely have an established credit history, a short (or non-existent) employment record, or prior experience with landlords.
For years, this financial gap has been filled by personal guarantors. But under the Renters' Rights Act (RRA), relying on friends or family has become less straightforward. When dealing with personal guarantors, agents could run into issues with failed affordability checks, an unforeseen county court judgement, and documentation delays.
With restrictions on rent in advance making it harder for tenants to overcome affordability hurdles, and many international students unable to provide a UK guarantor at all, agents need a more flexible way to keep tenancies moving while protecting landlords. Professional guarantor services allow agents to quickly progress tenancies without excluding otherwise suitable tenants.
In this blog, we'll explore why standard referencing methods don't always work for student renters, the benefits of a professional guarantor service, and how Goodlord can help you and your student tenants.
The Renters’ Rights Act has changed the way student tenancies are managed, but it’s only one part of a wider shift towards compliance in the PRS. For letting agents, student tenancies now require more careful preparation before a tenancy begins, making a robust referencing and record-keeping process more important than ever.
One of the biggest challenges presented by student tenancies is the abolition of fixed-term assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs). Most private student tenancies are periodic, meaning that landlords can no longer rely on a tenancy naturally ending at the end of the academic year. Section 8, ground 4A, addresses this by allowing landlords with qualifying properties to regain possession with four months ahead of the next academic year, provided all the conditions are met. Purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) is largely exempt from the RRA reforms and operates under separate arrangements.
Alongside these tenancy reforms, agents must continue to meet existing legal obligations such as Right to Rent checks. These are particularly important when working with international students, as accurately verifying immigration status is essential. Failure to carry out compliant checks can lead to significant civil financial penalties (£20,000 per occupier for repeated breaches), restrictions on a landlord's ability to let property, and, in the most serious criminal cases, a potentially unlimited fine and five years' imprisonment.
Previously, landlords could sometimes use several months' rent in advance to offset the additional risk of renting to students or international applicants who couldn't provide a UK-based guarantor. With the Renters' Rights Act removing this option, agents need alternative ways to give landlords confidence while ensuring students aren't unfairly excluded from the private rented sector.
As a result, professional guarantor services have become an increasingly important part of the student lettings process. Rather than lowering referencing standards, they allow agents to maintain robust checks while giving landlords additional financial security and helping students without a suitable UK guarantor access accommodation.
Combined with thorough identity verification, Right to Rent checks and tailored affordability assessments, guarantor services enable agents to build a more complete picture of each applicant while remaining compliant with an increasingly complex regulatory landscape.
Traditional tenant referencing is built with a fairly standard applicant profile in mind: a UK resident with full-time employment, a regular salary backed by a trusted source, an established credit history, and a previous track record as a renter. Students, particularly international students, may fit one or two descriptors, but very rarely fit the full mould.
For many students, their initial application will be their first time entering the PRS. They may have no landlord references and no renting experience outside of student housing provided by their university. International students face an even more complex situation, with overseas financial histories and documentation that may not meet UK referencing standards.
That isn't to say that student tenants are inherently at higher risk. Most students are focused on their studies, and will make the effort to meet the terms of their tenancy agreement. The challenge for letting agents is to ensure that they’re balancing their compliance obligations with the realities of the student market. They still need to verify identity, assess affordability, carry out Right to Rent checks, and provide landlords with confidence that the tenancy will work for them.
Rather than applying a one-size-fits-all referencing process, agents should adapt their approach to the information available. A student's affordability may be supported by maintenance loans, part-time work, family contributions or a professional guarantor instead of a full-time salary. Looking at the applicant as a whole allows agents to make informed, compliant decisions while ensuring suitable students aren't excluded simply because they don't fit the profile of a traditional renter.
Below, we've included a chart of what should be taken into account with regular vs student applicants:
| Traditional applicant | Student applicant |
| Regular employment income | Student finance, part-time work, family support |
| Established credit history | Limited or no credit history |
| Previous landlord references | Often first private tenancy |
| Affordability based on salary | Affordability may depend on multiple income sources and a personal guarantor |
The differences we’ve outlined in the table don’t mean that agents need to lower their standards for students; they just require a different approach while maintaining the same focus on compliance. The question is, what are the checks that need to be carried out, and what are the consequences of letting them slip?
No two students will have the exact same circumstances, but a comprehensive referencing process should build a complete picture of who they are, how they'll pay their rent, and what risk (if any) needs to be addressed before the tenancy begins.
Here's a list of what letting agents should consider:
Finding out whether a potential tenant is who they say they are is one of the basic goals of referencing. Robust identity verification helps reduce the risk of fraud, ensures all records are accurate, and supports compliance with legal obligations, such as PEP and Sanctions checks.
The cost of failing to do this goes beyond fines. If you end up with a fraudulent tenant, you could lose thousands of pounds of rent and months of time as you go through the repossession process. This, in turn, could damage your relationships with your landlords and cause you to lose their portfolio. Word of mouth may then spread, damaging your reputation.
Platforms like Goodlord use digital ID verification tools to help streamline the process. This creates an audit trail directly within the system, enabling agents to better track their tenancies and providing tenants with a smoother experience overall.
Credit checks provide useful insights into an applicant's financial history and uncover any previous County Court Judgements (CCJs), bankruptcies, or other financial difficulties that could give an agent pause.
The important thing to remember is that student tenants have only recently become financially independent. This means that the credit data collected by most referencing platforms won't show the whole picture of a student tenant's situation.
Reference checks for students should always consider the unique financial aspects of being a student, including reliance on personal guarantors and Student Finance England, and a potentially choppy work history.
For student tenancies, especially those catering to international students, the guarantor is just as important as the tenant themselves.
When a student's income or financial history can't demonstrate their affordability, a guarantor provides an additional layer of security for the landlord. If the student is using a private guarantor (usually a close family member), you'll need to carry out many of the same checks as you would on the applicant. This includes securing proof of identity, affordability checks, and reviewing their credit history.
Some platforms can offer a commercial guarantor service. This is where a service, such as Goodlord Guarantor, acts as the UK guarantor for an applicant and takes on the risk for the letting agent, the landlord, and the student. One of the major benefits of using a professional guarantor service is that these guarantors don’t need to be referenced and are trusted by agencies nationwide.
As we mentioned above, there is a legal obligation to carry out Right to Rent checks before the tenancy begins to confirm that the property's adult occupiers have a legal right to rent in the UK.
It’s very important, especially with international students, that these checks are carried out in line with the latest Home Office guidance. This means your processes need to be airtight and maintain a clearly defined audit trail should the tenancy be challenged in the future.
If a landlord or letting agent knowingly fails to do a Right to Rent check on every occupier in the property, it could lead to criminal charges and an unlimited fine. A quick referencing process is not worth a stint in prison.
There's no single approach to student referencing. Some applicants only require basic identity and credit checks, while others need more comprehensive affordability assessments or the additional reassurance of a professional guarantor. The key is having the flexibility to choose the right level of protection for each tenancy.
Goodlord supports student tenancies through its suite of referencing products, allowing agents to tailor the process to the applicant's circumstances. Every tenancy can benefit from robust identity verification, credit checks where appropriate, and Right to Rent support, giving agents the confidence that essential compliance requirements have been met.
Where a student doesn't have access to a suitable UK-based guarantor, Goodlord Guarantor offers a straightforward alternative. Rather than asking applicants to find a family member or friend who meets affordability requirements, agents can offer a professional UK guarantor that's fully integrated into the tenancy journey.
Goodlord Guarantor is designed to remove one of the biggest barriers to securing student accommodation. It enables eligible students to meet landlord requirements without paying large upfront rent, while giving landlords the financial reassurance they need to let with confidence.
Compliance isn’t the only benefit for letting agents. By combining flexible referencing with an integrated guarantor solution, agencies can help more student tenancies progress, reduce unnecessary administration, and create an additional revenue opportunity. Rather than forcing every student through the same process, Goodlord gives agents the tools to choose the right level of referencing and security for every application.
The most successful student referencing process is one that looks at the applicant as a whole. By combining robust identity verification, affordability and Right to Rent checks with the security of a professional guarantor where needed, letting agents can give landlords greater confidence while helping more students access suitable accommodation.
If you’d like to know more about Goodlord’s guarantor service and how our wider platform could help your agency, get in touch with our team here.