Only My Share flags up growing concern, as 1 in 5 guarantors baulk at rent responsibility

Rent arrears protection service Only My Share has reported a 38% month-on-month uplift in sales, as confidence returns to the student rental market once more. Students confirming that they will be renting for the 2021/22 academic year have also driven a 48% uplift in sales compared to the same period last year.

However, the company has also flagged up a growing area of concern. Student letting agents are reporting that around one in every five guarantors is now disputing the element of the tenant’s guarantor agreement that holds them jointly liable for the rent.

“Many students rent in Houses of Multiple Occupation, known as HMOs. Under a joint and several liability clause in a tenancy agreement, if one tenant doesn’t pay their rent, everyone else becomes liable for it. With awareness of this growing, along with a fragile economic backdrop, there is an increasing reluctance by many individuals to sign up as guarantors.”

Edmund Fulford, Relationship Manager, Only My Share

Agents are reporting having to spend hours on the phone explaining joint and several liability clauses to potential renters and their guarantors. Others have been forced to remove such clauses from tenancy agreements altogether.

Only My Share, which is part of the Housing Hand family, has been working closely with agents to deliver a solution. The company’s rent arrears protection offering means that the tenant – and their guarantor – will not be liable for a housemate’s unpaid rent. It is a game-changer for many renters as it delivers peace of mind. For the agents seeking to house them, it means more contracts being signed and a faster process of doing so.