We call on the Government to amend consumer and housing legislation to require that rental property guarantors must be direct signatories on the primary tenancy agreement, rather than signing standalone Deeds of Guarantee.

Letting agents and landlords can use standalone Deeds containing "blanket indemnity" clauses to claim that a guarantor's liability continues indefinitely even after a tenancy is surrendered, renewed, or altered without the guarantor's ongoing knowledge or consent. Tying the guarantor's legal liability directly to the primary tenancy contract will, we believe, ensure that when a specific tenancy agreement ends or is replaced by a new contract, the guarantor's financial liability automatically terminates.