Guaranteed rent schemes: pros, cons and the small print

Guaranteed rent means a company leases your property and pays you a fixed rent every month, whether or not the property is let. We offer it ourselves, so this is not a neutral review; but the scheme has real trade-offs, and you should know all of them before signing anyone's agreement, including ours.

How it actually works

You sign a lease with the operator, typically for a fixed term of a few years [VERIFY our term]. They place tenants, manage them, and handle the day-to-day. You get the agreed figure monthly from the operator regardless of what is happening inside the tenancy: void, arrears, between tenants, none of it changes your payment. At the end of the term the property comes back to you.

The operator's business works because the guaranteed figure sits below full market rent. That gap is their margin and their risk buffer. On a good year, the operator wins. On a bad year, with a void and a set of arrears, you win. Averaged out, you are paying an insurance premium in the form of forgone rent.

The pros

Income you can plan around. The payment behaves like a salary, not like a rental.
No voids, no arrears, no chasing. The two things that hurt landlords most stop hitting your monthly income.
No day-to-day management. Tenants, callouts and routine maintenance sit with the operator. Some duties stay with you as the owner under any scheme (typically things like buildings insurance and any licensing the property needs); the agreement should list them, and you should read that list. [VERIFY our maintenance cap + exactly what remains with the owner]
One counterparty. You deal with a company under a commercial agreement, not with a rotating cast of tenants.

The cons

You earn less than a good year on the open market. If your property lets instantly and your tenants are model citizens, a letting agent will beat the guaranteed figure.
You give up control. The operator chooses and manages the tenants. If being hands-on matters to you, this will chafe.
You are locked in for the term. Exiting early is possible only on the agreement's terms, or not at all. [VERIFY our early-exit terms]
The guarantee is only as good as the company behind it. This is the big one, and it gets its own section.

The small print that separates good schemes from bad ones

Ask any operator, including us, these five questions, and expect straight answers:

What exactly is covered? Which repairs, up to what amount, and what falls back to you.
What condition does the property come back in? Fair wear and tear should be defined, not left vague.
Who pays and manages the process if possession action is needed? Schemes differ, and this is exactly the kind of cost that surfaces late. Get the answer in writing before you sign.
What happens if the operator fails? Who the tenants are, where the deposit sits, and what your position is if the company disappears mid-term.
Can they show you the agreement before you commit? A serious operator hands over the full contract and gives you time to have a solicitor read it. Anyone who will not is answering question 4 for you.

Who it suits, and who it does not

It suits landlords who want to keep the asset and stop doing the work: accidental landlords, owners living far from the property, and anyone whose patience for tenancy admin has run out but whose numbers still work. It does not suit landlords chasing maximum yield, or anyone uncomfortable handing over control.

If the deeper question is whether to keep the property at all, start with Should you sell or keep your buy-to-let?. And if the answer is out, a direct sale with tenants in place is the other half of what we do.

You can get our guaranteed rent figure for your property without obligation; put it next to a letting agent's appraisal and the maths above, and the right answer for your property is usually obvious.