How Rent Guarantors Can Help Universities Support Their Students

With Universities welcoming back in-person learning, many students will be planning to return to their student homes. At the same time, first year students for the 2021-2022 academic year will also begin considering where they will live when they take their next step in higher education.

However, the past 12 months have been tough and while universities are struggling with tighter budgets, some families whose children will start university in September might also be in a difficult position when it comes to being a suitable rent guarantor.

However, there is a potential answer to this problem for students and universities: professional rent guarantor services. By using a rent guarantor business, new students can take some pressure off their families as they try to move forward to something new and exciting. Meanwhile, for universities, commercial contracts with professional guarantors could also be an option to help encourage more students to make the move into student rental accommodation with additional support, should they need it. 

Students in Need of Guarantors

For many students who are moving away from home for the first time, renting a student home, which should be an exciting time, can become less enjoyable due to financial worries. After an uncertain 12 months during the coronavirus pandemic where a lot of UK workers were furloughed, given reduced hours or even lost their jobs, the idea of planning for a years’ rent for their child can be fraught with worry.

However, if parents would prefer to avoid a credit check on their profile to become a guarantor for the new student in the family, a professional rent guarantor service might be able to provide a different option and some much-needed peace of mind. Rent guarantor services are typically used by foreign students who don’t have any family or close friends in the country they’re studying in. But, in some circumstances, the same service might be appropriate for a new student studying the country of their birth and where they do have family.

It won’t always be the right option, but in some cases, engaging the services of a professional rent guarantor firm, either as an individual, or through a University run scheme, can work out for the best. Not only will it ensure the student can secure the student rental home they want, but it can give their parents one less (big) thing to worry about.

Commercial Contracts for Universities

On the flip side, universities across the UK could find themselves in a situation where many of their incoming first-year students are hesitant to make the move into student accommodation. Considering the difficulties faced by the sector during the pandemic – where contracts had to be adhered to even though the services on offer weren’t always available or safe to use due to the pandemic – it’s to be expected.

One way they can help encourage more students to move into student digs is to enter into a commercial contract with a professional rent guarantor service provider. This helps shift the financial risk away from the university and onto the rent guarantor, while still offering an important and useful option to encourage new students that renting a student property is a good choice.

Of course, should more coronavirus-related difficulties arise, just because a rent guarantor provider is involved doesn’t mean that students can move out without a though to paying rent. What agreements with rent guarantor services does provide is peace of mind for students, their parents, their landlords and universities. That’s something that will likely be welcome as thoughts turn to the 2021-2022 academic year.