Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Lab)

My Lords, I rise briefly to support Amendment 170 in the name of my noble friend Lady Lister of Burtersett. I declare my interests as a trustee of the Nationwide Foundation. There is a growing use of guarantors in the PRS. Generation Research last year found that 30% of renters who moved in 2023-24 had been asked to provide a guarantor. Requesting a guarantor is clearly being overused and is moving towards becoming standard practice. Moreover, a guarantor in many cases has proved to be unnecessary. Shelter found that only 2.9% of landlords attempted to pursue a guarantor for unpaid rent in the last two years, despite its estimate showing that 1.85 million renters had been asked to provide one. Guarantors are overused, unused and inherently discriminative, and make renting unnecessarily burdensome. Where a renter can prove through an affordability assessment that they can pay their rent, a guarantor should not be asked for. Amendment 170, or one like it on Report, is a necessary addition to the Bill. Will my noble friend Lady Taylor of Stevenage consider this amendment favourably or bring one very close to it back on Report? Will she also consider developing national guidance for fair and proportionate referencing? Although we may talk about this tomorrow, will she also consider adding information on guarantors to the private rented sector database?