# Tenants affordability and insurance **URL:** \ **Category:** Landlord Discussion\ **Created:** [14 July 2026 23:30 UTC](https://community.openrent.co.uk/t/tenants-affordability-and-insurance/90617 "2026-07-14T23:30:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Disha](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.openrent.co.uk/disha/32/33705_2.png) [@Disha](https://community.openrent.co.uk/u/Disha)\ **Post date:** [14 July 2026 23:30 UTC](https://community.openrent.co.uk/t/tenants-affordability-and-insurance/90617/1 "2026-07-14T23:30:48Z")
Hi All, I have a property to let and have found the tenants. They are husband and wife. the rent is 1850 per month. One tenant has a Universal Credit income of 28k. Second tenant is earning 14k. Now the total household income would not cover the rent. So, they have 2 guarantors whos income is 12k and 18k respectively. Would they pass the affordability? What I am looking at is the first part of the rent(50%) will be covered by the first tenant and the second part will be covered by the 2 guarantors. is it possible that both guarantors must have total affordability of the entire rent? I could not find answers to such cases anywere on OpenRent so I thought to ask here if any one have gone thru similar cases. Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![David240](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.openrent.co.uk/david240/32/29827_2.png) [@David240](https://community.openrent.co.uk/u/David240)\ **Post date:** [15 July 2026 07:45 UTC](https://community.openrent.co.uk/t/tenants-affordability-and-insurance/90617/2 "2026-07-15T07:45:33Z")
@Disha Very bad idea. Find tenants who can actually afford your rent. Guarantors wont have any obligation to pay till.at some point the tenants stop paying and then you may have to pursue through the courts). The guarantors income is less than the tenants ! So if the tenants cant afford the guarantors cant either. Then there is the issue of how to pursue for the part rent - not possible. Rent will be jointly/severally liable so they are each liable for it all. How would you pursue a guarantors for only part. Or look at it like this - half your rent is 925pcm or 11100 pa. Thats 37% of the guarantors total gross income if 30k. The normal affordability test for tenants is max 30% and tougher for guarantors (as they have their own place to pay for normally). So they simply cant afford it Good luck ---
**Author:** ![Mark10](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.openrent.co.uk/mark10/32/11325_2.png) [@Mark10](https://community.openrent.co.uk/u/Mark10)\ **Post date:** [15 July 2026 08:01 UTC](https://community.openrent.co.uk/t/tenants-affordability-and-insurance/90617/3 "2026-07-15T08:01:13Z")
Never take on tenants who cannot meet affordability criteria. Guarantors are a last resort, and these ones also can’t afford it. They become liable if tenant stops paying. You don’t combine the 2 amounts to pass affordability, for rent guarantee insurance the tenants income alone needs to meet 2.5 x monthly rent and the guarantor 3 x ---
**Author:** ![Graham](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.openrent.co.uk/graham/32/450_2.png) [@Graham](https://community.openrent.co.uk/u/Graham)\ **Post date:** [15 July 2026 22:53 UTC](https://community.openrent.co.uk/t/tenants-affordability-and-insurance/90617/4 "2026-07-15T22:53:41Z")
Just do some basic maths. ---
**Author:** ![tatemono](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.openrent.co.uk/tatemono/32/19789_2.png) [@tatemono](https://community.openrent.co.uk/u/tatemono)\ **Post date:** [16 July 2026 06:40 UTC](https://community.openrent.co.uk/t/tenants-affordability-and-insurance/90617/5 "2026-07-16T06:40:00Z")
> [@Disha](#): > > I could not find answers to such cases anywere on OpenRent That’s because you’re supposed to stop when you find out that > [@Disha](#): > > the total household income would not cover the rent. ---
**Author:** ![Disha](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.openrent.co.uk/disha/32/33705_2.png) [@Disha](https://community.openrent.co.uk/u/Disha)\ **Post date:** [16 July 2026 13:58 UTC](https://community.openrent.co.uk/t/tenants-affordability-and-insurance/90617/6 "2026-07-16T13:58:18Z")
Thank you for your reply! ---
**Author:** ![Disha](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.openrent.co.uk/disha/32/33705_2.png) [@Disha](https://community.openrent.co.uk/u/Disha)\ **Post date:** [16 July 2026 13:59 UTC](https://community.openrent.co.uk/t/tenants-affordability-and-insurance/90617/7 "2026-07-16T13:59:03Z")
Thank you for your reply Mark ---
**Author:** ![Alice17](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.openrent.co.uk/alice17/32/26128_2.png) [@Alice17](https://community.openrent.co.uk/u/Alice17)\ **Post date:** [16 July 2026 15:22 UTC](https://community.openrent.co.uk/t/tenants-affordability-and-insurance/90617/8 "2026-07-16T15:22:00Z")
RED FLAG Guarantors need enough income to be able to cover their rent/own mortgage or rent PLUS the tenants. So these are miles off the mark. You should be looking at over 50k Your tenants have failed affordability AND with the income you stated, are a long way off being able to afford it. They simply cannot afford what is quite a high rent and will quickly fall into arrears. You sound like you might be quite new to this so make sure you understand other responsibilities such as deposit, EPC, EICR etc. Only rent to tenants who can afford the rent and even then, be cautious. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.openrent.co.uk/system/32/11_2.png) [@system](https://community.openrent.co.uk/u/system)\ **Post date:** [14 October 2026 15:22 UTC](https://community.openrent.co.uk/t/tenants-affordability-and-insurance/90617/9 "2026-10-14T15:22:07Z")
Closed on 14 October 2026 15:22 UTC This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.