If you have been asked to be a Guarantor you are probably a parent or close relative/friend of a student. 

A guarantor is someone who agrees to pay for a tenant's rent (and potentially other charges) if they don't/can't pay it. 

To be a Guarantor you need to own a home (either on your own or with other people) in England (including the Isle of Wight or Isle of Man), Wales, or the Channel Islands. You can have a mortgage on the property and act as a Guarantor.

We're sorry, but if you rent a house, or own a house in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you're not eligible to be a guarantor with us. If you cannot be a guarantor, there is an option to use a company called Housing Hand, you can have a look at what they do and how it works via their website http://www.housinghand.co.uk/ or pay in two installments.

We will carry out checks using the public Land Registry database to verify that you are the owner of the property. If your details are not shown on the Land Registry database, you will be required to provide further evidence. Read our section on property checks for further details.

We will also check if there are existing county court judgments against your property. The decision to accept or decline you as the Guarantor falls ultimately to our discretion.

What is the Guarantor responsible for?

As the Guarantor, you will be asked to co-sign the Tenancy Agreement. Please take a look at our:

If you sign this agreement you are:

  • required to cover all rent, bills, and charges incurred during the tenancy should the tenant be unable to do so.
  • the Guarantor for the entire time the agreement is in effect - even if the tenancy is extended beyond the standard contract length

What happens next?

  • The tenant tells CODE you are willing to act as the Guarantor and will provide your contact details.
  • The CODE Team will check if you are a homeowner in England (including the Isle of Wight or the Isle of Man), Wales, or the Channel Islands, using the Land Registry, and if yes, we will email you a link to the Guarantor portal, where you can electronically co-sign the tenancy agreement.
  • Full details of what to do will be provided in the Guarantor email. It is very important you read this and follow the instructions exactly. If you do not, it is likely your documents will be rejected.

    PLEASE NOTE: The guarantor has 14 days from the date of the student booking to co-sign the Tenancy Agreement.

Property checks

We use the HM Land Registry to find out who owns a property by checking the official deeds for that property. Sometimes, the Land Registry search might fail. 

If this happens, we will always contact you by phone. If we are unable to reach you, we will e-mail you. We will do our best to explain why the search has failed and learn how to move the booking forward. 

Commonly, a failed search is nothing to worry about and can easily be resolved. Reasons the search might fail include: 

  • The property isn't listed
    A property may not be listed on the Land Registry for several reasons. This does not mean you are unable to act as a guarantor:
    If this happens we may ask you to provide alternative proof of ownership such as:
    1) a mortgage statement (dated within the last 12 months), 
    2) title deeds (if the property does not have a mortgage)
    3) buildings insurance certificate (dated within the last 12 months).
     
  • Names do not match. 
    This could be because you recently got married/divorced or use shortened/different names in certain situations. We can talk you through next steps.
     
  • There is more than one name on the Land Registry... 
    ... but only one name was provided by the customer.
    If you legally own the house with someone else and they are listed on the Land Registry, we need all parties to agree they will act as guarantors.
    Sometimes, one of the persons named on the Land Registry may not be able to complete the form, for example, if a couple has got divorced or a person has died but the Land Registry has not been updated. In these instances, we will need to ask for further information, so please contact CODE if all names cannot be included or signed.
     
  • There's an unusual charge identified against the property
    If you already have a charge on your property, our General Manager will confirm if you are able to act as a guarantor on this occasion.

If your Guarantor Agreement has been rejected

Occasionally, we may need to ask you to co-sign the Tenancy Agreement again. Please do not be offended if we need to do this.

The main reason(s) your Guarantor signature may be rejected is because: 

Not all of the homeowners have accepted the guarantor status - if more than one person owns the property then all owners must sign. 
Because this is a legal requirement, if there is more than one owner we cannot accept just one signature, there are no exceptions to this.

What if I change my mind?

If you have co-signed the Tenancy agreement and no longer wish to be the guarantor for the tenancy, then the tenant must find someone else to take over the Guarantor's agreement. As the current guarantor, you will still be liable for all payments until this has been done. This is whether or not the person has moved into the room.
 

What do you do with my data?

Details of how we process your data are outlined in our Privacy Policy. 

We do not keep your personal data for any longer than is necessary in light of the reason(s) for which it was first collected.