The Renters’ Rights Bill could lead to an increase in the number of tenants being asked to provide a guarantor and to further discrimination, charities and campaign groups have warned.

In an open letter to Housing Secretary Angela Rayner, 29 organisations including Shelter, Generation Rent, and Acorn, warn that the legislation does not prevent landlords from using excessive guarantor requirements to filter out poorer tenants or those on benefits.

It claimed one in five tenants have already been asked to provide a guarantor for their current tenancy in recent years, while nearly one in three are struggling to do so.

Preventing discrimination

They argue that measures in the Bill that are aimed at closing other avenues of discrimination - such as limiting the amount of rent in advance that can be requested - landlords will simply switch to requesting a guarantor, even when there is very little danger that a tenant will not pay rent.

Guarantor requirements are widespread, even where tenants have proven their ability to pay the rent, according to Shelter research, which estimates that nearly two million adult renters were asked to provide a guarantor in the last five years.

The groups want the Government to rule out demands for a guarantor where tenants’ income is sufficient to cover the rent, or where the landlord has insurance to cover any non-payment, and to limit guarantor liability to six months’ rent.

Dan Wilson Craw, of Generation Rent, said the move to limit rent in advance is a positive step towards ending discrimination while renting.

But he added that discrimination will continue through excessive guarantor demands.

He added: “The Government must act to close this loophole. If you can afford the rent, there should be no need for a guarantor.”