Before May 2026 a landlord letting a Bloomsbury flat to a Gulf student solved every problem with six months’ rent in advance. Since 1 May 2026 that is unlawful under the Renters’ Rights Act. The landlord must now choose a tenant on references, with a guarantor if needed, and one month in advance at most. Landlords of student houses gained a new ground to recover possession each summer. A family offering a year’s rent is still refused.
Owning and letting
Guarantors, rent in advance and student tenancies after the Act: what a landlord can still ask for
What a landlord can ask of tenants without UK income after the Renters' Rights Act
A landlord letting to a tenant without UK income, including a Gulf student, can ask for one month’s rent in advance, a five-week deposit, references and a guarantor. Six months in advance is unlawful since 1 May 2026, even if the tenant offers it. A parent abroad is a weak guarantor, so agents expect a UK-based guarantor or a guarantor company, which charges about a month’s rent. Student houses in multiple occupation can be recovered each summer under ground 4A with four months’ notice; a flat let to one student cannot.
The Renters’ Rights Act 2025, in force from 1 May 2026, caps rent in advance at one month once the tenancy is agreed and forbids any rent before signing; bans rental bidding; keeps the five-week deposit cap from the Tenant Fees Act; makes every tenancy periodic from the start; and adds a possession ground (4A) for houses in multiple occupation let to full-time students, so that the landlord can recover the house between academic years. Guarantors were not restricted. The practical effect for a landlord who used advance rent as security is that the guarantor is now the security, and the referencing must do the work the cheque used to.
Rent in advance limits for tenants under the Renters' Rights Act
One month, payable once the tenancy agreement is signed and before the tenant moves in, and then monthly in advance thereafter; the deposit of five weeks on top. A landlord or agent who asks for or accepts more commits a breach with a civil penalty, and the tenant can recover the excess. A tenant who offers six months voluntarily is still refused; the ban is on accepting.
Company lets: the exception to the rent in advance ban
The exception is a company let, where a business takes the tenancy for its employee: outside the assured-tenancy regime, with advance rent and a fixed term both lawful, which is why a Gulf employer housing a London employee can still pay a year in advance and a Gulf parent housing a student cannot.
When a landlord can require a guarantor for a tenancy
A landlord may require a guarantor where the tenant does not pass referencing on income alone, which covers students, the newly arrived, and anyone whose income is abroad. The guarantor signs a deed guaranteeing the tenant’s obligations, rent and damage, for the tenancy; the guarantee should be limited to the tenant’s share in a shared house, should have an end point or a right to withdraw on notice, and under the Act cannot be used to demand rent in advance by another route.
How a guarantor is referenced and what the Act may change
The guarantor is referenced like a tenant: UK income of around three times the annual rent, a UK address, a credit check. The Act’s forthcoming regulations may limit guarantees after a tenant’s death and in some other cases; the basic right to require one stands.
Why a guarantor based abroad is weak in an agent's eyes
A parent in Riyadh is a weak guarantor in the agent’s eyes: the guarantee is enforceable only in England, against assets the parent may not have there, and the referencing company cannot credit-check a Saudi resident.
Alternatives to a parent abroad as guarantor for a student
The practical alternatives: a UK-based guarantor (a relative, a family friend with UK income); a guarantor company, which for a fee of a month’s rent or so guarantees the tenancy and is accepted by most agents; a rent guarantee insurance policy taken by the landlord; or, where the landlord is the family itself, none of this (below). An agent that insists on a UK guarantor for a Gulf student is applying the law, not discriminating, and a landlord abroad letting to another family’s child should ask for one.
Student tenancies and ground 4A possession for student houses
A full-time student letting a room in a house in multiple occupation (three or more unrelated people sharing) is on a periodic tenancy like anyone else, but the landlord may recover the house under ground 4A if, at the start, the tenants were full-time students, the landlord gave notice before the tenancy that the ground would be used, and the possession date falls between 1 June and 30 September; four months’ notice.
Why ground 4A does not apply to a flat let to one student
A single student in a self-contained flat is not within ground 4A and the landlord recovers only under the ordinary grounds. The September cycle therefore still works for student houses, with the paperwork done at the start, and does not for a flat let to one student, which is the usual Gulf family’s holding; our student-child guide and our Bloomsbury guide cover that.
HMO licensing rules for letting to three or more students
A property let to three or more unrelated people sharing facilities is a house in multiple occupation; five or more needs a mandatory licence from the council, and many London boroughs require a licence for smaller HMOs under additional licensing schemes, with fees of £500 to £1,500 and standards for room sizes, fire safety and amenities.
Letting an HMO without a licence is a criminal offence with a fine and a rent repayment order of up to twelve months’ rent to the tenants. A Gulf owner letting a three-bedroom flat to three students should check the borough’s scheme before the first tenancy; the agent should know, and our choosing-an-agent guide’s questions include it.
Letting to your own child
A family that owns the flat and houses its own child in it is not usually a landlord in the Act’s sense: there is no rent, no tenancy and no deposit, and the child occupies as a licensee or family member. Nothing in the Act applies. The flat is the child’s main residence for council tax (and so not a second home, as our council tax guide explains), the child’s UK days are his own, and the family’s position is in our student-child guide.
What happens if the family charges the child rent
Where the family charges the child rent to create a letting business (for tax or for a future company structure), the Act applies in full, the child is a tenant with an open-ended tenancy, and the family has turned a simple arrangement into a regulated one for little gain. The firm advises against it.
Sources: Guide to the Renters’ Rights Act (GOV.UK) · Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (legislation.gov.uk) · House in multiple occupation licence (GOV.UK) · Tenancy deposit protection (GOV.UK) Figures verified 14 October 2026.
Frequently Asked
Questions about guarantors and student tenancies
One month’s rent in advance, a five-week deposit, references, and a UK-based guarantor or a guarantor company; not six months’ rent, however willing the family.
Yes, if it is an HMO let to full-time students and you serve the ground 4A notice before the tenancy starts; the possession date must fall in June to September. A single flat let to one student has no such ground.
The rent and any damage for the tenancy, usually without limit of time unless the deed says otherwise; ask for a cap at her share and a right to end the guarantee on notice after the first year.
One month, payable once the tenancy agreement is signed and before the tenant moves in, then monthly in advance. The five-week deposit sits on top. Asking for or accepting more is a breach with a civil penalty, and the tenant can recover the excess. The Act also forbids any rent before signing and bans rental bidding.
Yes. A company let, where a business takes the tenancy for its employee, sits outside the assured-tenancy regime, so advance rent and a fixed term are both lawful. A Gulf parent housing a student has no such route, because the tenancy is in the student’s own name.
Around a month’s rent as a fee. The company guarantees the tenancy and is accepted by most agents, which makes it the usual answer for a student whose parents are in the Gulf. The other options are a UK-based relative or family friend with UK income, or a rent guarantee insurance policy taken by the landlord.
No. The guarantee is enforceable only in England, against assets the parent may not have there, and the referencing company cannot credit-check a Saudi resident. A guarantor is referenced like a tenant: UK income of around three times the annual rent, a UK address and a credit check. The agent is applying the law.
Three or more unrelated people sharing facilities is a house in multiple occupation. Five or more needs a mandatory licence, and many London boroughs license smaller HMOs under additional schemes, with fees of £500 to £1,500. Letting without a licence is a criminal offence with a fine and a rent repayment order of up to twelve months’ rent. Check the borough’s scheme before the first tenancy.
Four months. The landlord must also have told the tenants before the tenancy that the ground would be used, the tenants must have been full-time students at the start, and the possession date must fall between 1 June and 30 September. The property must be a house in multiple occupation.
Not usually. With no rent, no tenancy and no deposit, the child occupies as a licensee or family member and nothing in the Act applies. The flat is the child’s main residence for council tax, so it is not a second home. Charging the child rent to create a letting business brings the Act in full, and the firm advises against it.
