Landlord asking for our bank statements as guarantor for uni house share

[Rattytouille]

My DH has agreed to be guarantor for my DS’s house share of 4 for year 2 at a London uni.

DH has a very well paid job, and has provided letters from work and evidence of his salary and paid my DS’s deposit for his share of the house.

Now the LL/ estate agent is saying they want to see my DH’s (our) bank statements. DH isn’t happy and says it’s an intrusion of his privacy.

Is it normal to ask to see guarantors bank statements?

Blimey. I would not be doing that.

We had no choice. My daughter needed housing for a new job and all of the estate agents in the very competitive area were asking the same. There were 4 other candidates waiting for the same property if we didn't play ball.

One son at Oxford, the letting agency wanted this. Other son at Nottingham and agency just wanted a simple yes or no whether I would be guarantor.

Also Oxford house wanted £800 deposit EACH student and Nottingham £300.

Yes, we had to do this for one property. I blanked out the account number and probably the sort code. There is no-way they would have been looking at my actual account via a portal!

You can pay for a firm to be guarantor, for us it would have been several hundred, probably £500+ now. I'd rather have paid 6 months up front but that is seen as potential drug house.

Last 2 years. Same again this upcoming academic year.

Yep very common, in fact I’d be surprised if anyone wouldn’t need this from a guarantor now

@Rattytouille you can heavily redact the statement so that it only shows salary coming in with everything else blacked out - that is what I did. It is fiddly, but they accepted it ok.

I agree it is an intrusion of privacy, but the landlord has the upper hand. If you are lucky, they will be a responsible landlord who understands their GDPR responsibilities and deletes your documents when they are no longer needed.

It is best not to share documents by email - they will reside in your outbox and the agent's inbox for ever more. Instead, put them in a folder in the Cloud (e.g. using Google Drive or Dropbox) and share them from there, and delete them after they've been picked up.

Quite so. I understand this is the norm for student shares. Perhaps it is the reason for the variation in PPs’ experience. Where liability is joint and several like this, a landlord only needs to ascertain that one of those guarantors has too much to lose to default.

Not necessarily. This year’s contract (house in a Welsh uni town) specifically only requires me to guarantee DC’s rent not the whole house. Maybe Welsh contract law is different or maybe we’ve been lucky.

Normal and i would think it odd if they didn't i cant believe it needs to be explained

Seems normal I think. They need to know the guarantor is solvent and has money.

Also Seems a bit mad to cover it for three complete strangers, can he afford to pay four sets of rent?

I often do accountants references for rental guarantors. They usually want to see the income declared to HMRC and proof of that. That’s fine but recently they have been asking for a copy of the actual tax return page by page which I think is intrusive. It’s ridiculous since they have already proven the total income.

The problem is that everyone is scared of not getting the property so complies.

they need proof you afford to be a guarantor, whether it a university student or anyone else is irrelevant. My exh acted as guarantor for my DD’s, I on the other hand acted as his guarantor though they accepted a screen shot of my bank account in this case (had all the money from the fmh sale in my account for tax reasons )

DH twice acted as guarantor for DS. For one tenancy, his liability was restricted to a 1/6 share. The second was joint and several, but as the only other tenant was a close friend, and the other set of parents considerably better off than us, he wasn't unduly worried about that one. I think he figured that the landlord would reach for the low-hanging fruit first, not that that theory was ever tested.
DD recently refused to even contemplate asking anyone to be a guarantor, and luckily she was able to offer a decent chunk of rent up front in lieu.

The alternative option is to pay a year's rent upfront. Many international students have to do this as they don't have a UK-based guarantor.

Out of three student houses lived in by our 2 kids, we were asked for bank statements plus payslips and copy passports by only one agent. We too thought this was intrusive so decided to pay the rent upfront to avoid having to be guarantor at all for that property.

Yes, I took out insurance from Only My Share for this reason. Cost £99 for the year and covers in case someone doesn’t pay and they come for me.

Both of mine were/are in private halls of residence with well known national companies. Neither company asked for pay slips or bank account access. Just name and address and you had to be employed.

I think it is appalling to ask for bank statements for guarantor acceptance. Such a massive invasion of privacy.

As said down thread, my DH has provided info/ a letter from his company already and proof of his earnings which are actually quite high so they shouldn’t need more TBH.

I’ve just agreed to be a guarantor for my DD for uni - they just sent me a form to sign. Absolutely nothing else!

New regulations:

Letting agents in the UK must conduct thorough Anti-Money Laundering (AML) checks on tenants, landlords, and other relevant parties to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. These checks involve verifying identities, assessing risks, and monitoring transactions for suspicious activity. New regulations effective May 14, 2025, mandate sanctions checks against the UK's official sanctions list, with reporting to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) if a match is found.

Key aspects of AML checks for letting agents:
Identity Verification:
Agents must verify the identity of all parties involved in a tenancy agreement using official documents like passports or driving licenses, and proof of address.

Risk Assessment:
Agents must assess the risk associated with each client and their relationships, considering factors like source of funds and business connections.

Sanctions Checks:
A mandatory check involves screening against the UK's official sanctions list, which includes individuals and entities linked to money laundering, terrorist financing, and other criminal activities.

PEP Checks:
Agents should also check if any party is a Politically Exposed Person (PEP), requiring enhanced due diligence.

Suspicious Activity Reporting:
If an agent suspects money laundering or other suspicious activity, they must report it to OFSI.

Record Keeping:
Agents need to maintain proper records of all AML checks and due diligence measures for audit and compliance purposes.

Consequences of non-compliance:
Fines: Failure to comply with AML regulations can result in significant fines, with some agents facing fines for past breaches.
Criminal Prosecution: In serious cases, non-compliance can lead to criminal prosecution, including potential prison sentences.

Best practices for letting agents:
Implement robust AML procedures:
This includes clear policies and procedures for conducting AML checks and reporting suspicious activity.

Utilize technology:
Consider using online verification tools and software to streamline the AML process and ensure accuracy.

Stay informed:
Keep up-to-date with the latest AML regulations and guidance from relevant bodies like HMRC and OFSI.

Seek professional advice:
If unsure about AML compliance, seek guidance from experts in the field.

Then throw in the Rental Reform Bill which is expected to become law later this year and which will give added security of tenure for renters, and which will cause landlords to become even more risk adverse.

Sadly the Government seem to have decided not to make an exception for student tenancies, which will have the effect of making students a less attractive body of potential renters. This, almost certainly, will increase caution around guarantors. Whilst the problem may be exacerbated by current Government efforts to move asylum seekers out of hotels into cheaper private rented accommodation and, as has been suggested, into student accommodation.

Yes I understand it’s normal. Fortunately fir me all I had to do was sign a piece of paper (witnessed) saying I would be guarantor. I didn’t even provide an ID let alone a bank statement.

I had to do it for DD’s student rent. Very normal. They need to see that along with getting paid enough, you don’t have such high outgoing s that you couldn’t pay the rent if needed. (In my case, prove I can pay the rent directly). So it’s similar to a mortgage application or your own rent application in that sense.

I have been guarantor several times for (student) DD and this kind of request isn't unusual at all.

I despair at all the "kick them out" posts I see on MN because these posters have no idea how difficult the rental market is right now.

DD is currently in halls (post grad degree) and is struggling to find another rental for when her tenancy ends next month. They go so quickly.