What is the Rent Guarantor Scheme?
A guarantor agrees to guarantee the payment of your rent to a landlord or agent in the event that you cannot. Many landlords require a UK-based guarantor, meaning that some international students who do not have access to a UK-based guarantor may encounter difficulties.
To support this, the college can act as a UK-based guarantor for Imperial College undergraduate students and postgraduate research students who may require this service when securing rental of private accommodation up to the value of £275 per week, per person for a 12-month period only. The scheme (per application) covers each individual student, not a household, and covers rent only, not damages. Please read the Terms & Conditions of the scheme and ensure you have all of the documentation before you start your application.
Applications are now open to postgraduate research students for a trial period, with a cap at 50 applications. Unfortunately, one year Master postgraduate students are not eligible to apply. We recommend that these students look for a guarantor using an alternative private company, as can be found by searching online using a search engine. We advise students carefully read the terms and conditions.
"WE HAVE ACTED AS GUARANTOR FOR OVER 1200 STUDENTS SINCE 2017"
Information tabs for the scheme
Student eligibility criteria
- You have been requested to provide a UK-based guarantor by a landlord
- You are a full time registered and enrolled (at the same time) undergraduate student (not going into first year) or postgraduate research student at Imperial College, and are full time registered throughout the term of your tenancy/licence agreement (due to application time restraints aligning with enrolment requirements, it is not yet possible to offer support to PGT students).
- You cannot find an alternative UK-based guarantor
- You have no outstanding academic or non-academic debts to the college
- You can provide a satisfactory reference from your most recent accommodation; references for college halls of residence are included in the application
- You can show that you have the funding to pay your rent (please see the 'Documentation' tab for further details)
- You haven't already signed your contract, unless you are in a contract longer than 12 months and are apply for a renewal
Property eligibility criteria
- The tenancy/licence agreement must be checked by and meet the standards of the Student Accommodation Office
- The property is not a private hall of residence
- The landlord must provide a current gas safety certificate, electrical safety certificate and HMO Licence for the property if applicable
- Your proportion of the rent on the property doesn’t exceed £275 a week. For joint or shared tenancies, the College will act as guarantor for each named student’s share of the rent up to a maximum of £275 a week each
- The college can guarantee a student for a maximum of 12 months; if the contract length is longer, the student can re-apply for the next period