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International Students Without a Guarantor
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International Students Without a Guarantor

Written by Sam | May 4, 2021

International students without a guarantor is a common issue when coming to study in the UK. However, what can you do about it?

Well here is a quick list of options:

  • Pay 6 months or 12 months upfront
  • Pay a higher deposit
  • Use a private guarantor service

Why They Ask For Guarantors For Students

It is basically a safety net for the landlords and letting agents to make sure that if anything goes wrong, they can still be paid.

If the student fails to pay any rent it falls to the guarantor.

If they don’t have a guarantor they will have to take legal proceedings and that is a long and costly road. This way they have a safety net to make sure they can pay the mortgage and keep the house in good condition.

The guarantor must have:

  • Good credit rating
  • UK residential address

What Do UK Students Do For Guarantors?

Well, most of the time they will use a family member or friend. Whoever it is will need to have a good credit score and a UK address, however, they will list them.

If they have a situation where they have been in care, then there are services out there which will act as a guarantor for them to help them in their education.

International Students Options Without a Guarantor

You can try and find some places that don’t need a guarantor, however these will be in the minority. These tpye of companies are your private student accommodation.

They are the big buildings which are built purposely for students and they sometimes don’t ask for a guarantor depending on their policy.

However, the good thing as an international student with these companies is that they will offer a no-visa no-pay policy which means if you don’t get a visa, you will get your money back!

These companies, may not want a guarantor, however if you are wanting to pay in monthly instalments, then it is likely you are going to need one!

Paying More Upfront

The easiest way for many internationals is to pay a certain amount of rent upfront, some may want 6 and others will want 12 months. With that they won’t need a guarantor as you have paid the amount in full.

This is a good way, especially if you can do 6 month instalments because you can pay half and half and skip a lot of the hassle of going down other routes and using other services. It just requires a lot of money!

Paying a Higher Deposit

If you don’t have 6 months worth of rent, you might be able to offer a higher deposit. A lot of regulation has come to the UK surrounding deposits because agents and landlords were spending them and not giving them back when they should of been returned.

However, some may accept a higher deposit. If you are thinking about this option, please ask where the deposit will be stored, keep all transactions and receipts as proof. Finally, make sure the higher deposit isn’t equivalent to 6 months worth of rent as you will still have to pay your rent.

Using a Guarantor Service

The way these work are you pay a fee for a guarantor company to be your guarantor, however, they will want a co-signature.

This means that any debt, damages or expense you incur at the property will be passed straight to your co-signature. If you put your family down as a the co-signature and then don’t pay any rent, all the debt will be passed to them.

I don’t think these companies take debt likely, so please make sure that you don’t incur any.

However, their services are actually very useful, a lot of them are UK based, they will need to be financially regulated and have to obey regulations.

We partner with Guarantid who are very quick at responding and giving a decision.

There are more out there by the way of Housing Hand which is probably the most well known.

When looking, make sure you compare the fees, they will all offer the same service to an extent, you just need to make sure that you aren’t overpaying, especially if you aren’t planning on getting into any debt!

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