Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that rent guarantor schemes are (1) widely available, and (2) accessible, for care experienced and estranged students enrolled at universities.

We strongly encourage landlords and letting agents to assess the suitability of potential and existing tenants on an individual basis. However, to ensure a sustainable tenancy for both parties, landlords and letting agents are free to impose a requirement for a guarantor on a tenancy.

We recognise that securing a guarantor can be difficult for some tenants. In these cases, local councils may offer guarantee schemes to help people on low incomes or at risk of homelessness. Further advice is available from local authority housing teams, Shelter and other specialist advisers.

Some universities and colleges operate a rent guarantor scheme. Typically, if the university or college accepts an application to join their scheme, it acts as the guarantor to help the student become a private renter.

In February, the government published our ambitious and wide-ranging children’s social care implementation strategy, which includes the commitment to promote rent guarantor schemes for care leavers. We encourage local authorities to use the freedoms they already have, that is why we are investing in excess of £1 billion into the Homelessness Prevention Grant from 2022-25.