Financial support for care-experienced students without guarantor

Overview

If you are care-experienced (a care leaver) or estranged from your parents, the lack of a guarantor is a well-recognised problem, and there is a range of practical support available. Most private landlords, letting agents and purpose-built student accommodation providers ask for a UK-based homeowner as a rent guarantor, which many care-experienced and estranged students simply cannot supply. The good news is that universities, specialist guarantor schemes and student finance rules all offer routes around this. The help falls into three broad areas: getting recognised as an independent or estranged student, accessing a guarantor scheme that does not need a co-signer, and getting financial help with any fees and shortfalls.

Getting the right status recognised first

The starting point is to make sure your circumstances are formally recognised, because that unlocks most of the other help.

For student finance, if you are estranged you can apply to Student Finance England as an independent student, meaning your maintenance loan is assessed on your own income rather than your parents’. To qualify you generally need to show you have had no contact with either living parent for a sustained period (usually at least twelve months, or that you can show a permanent breakdown in the relationship) and that this is likely to continue. You provide supporting evidence, for example a letter from a professional such as a teacher, social worker, GP or the charity Standalone. Care leavers are also assessed as independent students. This status matters because it affects the size of your maintenance loan and how much rent you can realistically afford.

You should also tell your university’s student support, wellbeing or money advice team that you are care-experienced or estranged. Nearly all universities have a named contact or single point of contact for care leavers and estranged students, and being on that list is often what gives you access to the accommodation guarantee, bursaries and hardship funds described below.

Guarantor schemes that do not require a co-signer

The main national scheme is Housing Hand, a rent guarantor service that many universities partner with. Where a university has partnered with it, care-experienced and estranged students can apply without providing a co-signer, and the university itself effectively stands behind the arrangement. Depending on the university the service is either free or offered at a discounted rate. Examples of this approach include Durham (its free EaCE+ rent guarantor scheme), Nottingham Trent and Liverpool. You should check whether your own university has a partnership, because the terms vary from institution to institution.

A number of universities go further and guarantee accommodation directly. For their own halls of residence, many universities waive the guarantor requirement entirely for care leavers and estranged students, or act as guarantor themselves. Some also offer a 365-day tenancy so you are not left without somewhere to live during vacations, which is a common problem when you cannot return to a family home.

If your university does not have a partnership, you can still approach a commercial guarantor service such as Housing Hand, Only Guarantor or similar, though these charge a fee (often several weeks’ rent) and you would usually pay this yourself unless a hardship fund helps.

Alternatives landlords may accept instead of a guarantor

Where no guarantor scheme is available, private landlords and agents will sometimes accept alternatives, and it is worth asking about these:

1. Paying several months’ rent, or a full term or year, in advance. Be cautious here, because a very large advance payment can leave you exposed if the landlord fails to protect it or the tenancy goes wrong, and it ties up money you may need.

2. A larger deposit, although note that under the Tenant Fees Act 2019 a tenancy deposit for most assured shorthold tenancies is capped at five weeks’ rent where the annual rent is under £50,000, so a landlord cannot lawfully demand an unlimited deposit as a substitute.

3. A letter from your university confirming your funding and status, which reassures a landlord about your ability to pay.

4. A commercial guarantor service standing in for a personal guarantor.

Financial help with fees and shortfalls

Several funding streams exist specifically to plug the gaps care-experienced and estranged students face.

University hardship funds. Almost every university runs a hardship or access-to-learning fund. Many will pay the fee for a commercial guarantor service, cover a rent deposit, or help with a rent-in-advance requirement for care-experienced and estranged students. Liverpool, for example, explicitly funds the guarantor scheme fee through its hardship fund. Contact your money advice or student support team and ask specifically for help with guarantor and deposit costs.

Care leaver and estrangement bursaries. Many universities pay an annual bursary to care leavers and estranged students, often between £1,000 and £3,000, which can be put towards accommodation costs. These are usually non-repayable.

Local authority duties to care leavers. If you are a care leaver aged under 25, your former local authority has continuing duties under the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 and the Children Act 1989. It should provide a personal adviser and a pathway plan, and can give financial support including help with accommodation, a setting-up-home allowance, and support during vacations. If you are a full-time higher education student and a care leaver, the local authority must provide a higher education bursary of £2,000 (paid by the university on behalf of the authority) and should ensure you have suitable vacation accommodation. Ask your leaving care team and personal adviser to help with guarantor and deposit issues.

Deposit and rent guarantee schemes run by councils. Some local authorities and charities run rent deposit guarantee or bond schemes for people who cannot afford a deposit or provide a guarantor. Availability varies by area, so check with the council for the area you will be living in.

Charities and specialist support

The charity Become runs the Care Advice Line and campaigns on care leaver housing. Standalone supports estranged students and provides evidence letters and guidance. The Unite Foundation offers fully funded, year-round accommodation scholarships at partner universities specifically for care leavers and estranged students, which removes the guarantor and vacation-accommodation problem entirely. It is worth checking whether your university is a Unite Foundation partner, as this can be one of the most valuable forms of help available.

Practical next steps

1. Contact your university’s student support, money advice or wellbeing team as early as possible and tell them you are care-experienced or estranged and cannot provide a guarantor. Ask to be flagged for care leaver and estranged student support.

2. Ask directly whether the university guarantees accommodation, acts as guarantor, or partners with Housing Hand or a similar scheme, and whether it offers a 365-day tenancy.

3. Confirm your student finance status as an independent or estranged student with Student Finance England, and gather your supporting evidence early.

4. If you are a care leaver, contact your former local authority’s leaving care team and personal adviser and ask about the higher education bursary, setting-up-home allowance and help with deposits and vacation accommodation.

5. Apply to the university hardship fund for any guarantor service fee, deposit or rent-in-advance requirement, and ask about care leaver or estrangement bursaries.

6. Check whether your university is a Unite Foundation partner and, if so, apply for a scholarship.

7. If you must deal with a private landlord, ask what alternatives to a guarantor they will accept, but be cautious about paying very large sums in advance and make sure any deposit is protected in a government-approved deposit scheme.

Where the answer depends on your circumstances

The precise help available turns on which university you attend, whether you are formally a care leaver or estranged for funding purposes, your age, and which local authority was responsible for you if you were in care. If you tell me your university and whether you are a care leaver or estranged, and roughly when your tenancy starts, I can point you to the most relevant schemes and the order in which to approach them.