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RentGuarantor Holdings: a small upstart with huge potential
Newly-listed RentGuarantor Holdings should benefit from the Renters' Rights Act, even though it's a headache for landlords. Should you invest?
RentGuarantor Holdings (Aim: RGG) has been given a boost by the Renters' Rights Act, one of the most significant pieces of legislation to hit the UK rental market in decades. It's only been in force since the beginning of May, but the Act is already driving a complete rewriting of the market.
Under the new law, fixed-term tenancies have been abolished, “no fault” evictions are no longer allowed, rents can only be raised once a year, and during the first 12 months of the tenancy, the landlord cannot serve notice to move back into the property or sell it. These changes, far from protecting tenants, have forced landlords to become more defensive.
The changes have made it much harder for landlords to evict tenants who can't or won't pay their rent, piling pressure on a system that's already on the verge of collapse. According to professional body Propertymark, due to lengthy court backlogs, the average time from claim to repossession has risen to more than 68 weeks, compared with just over 20 weeks in 2019. At the point of eviction, average unpaid rent stands at £12,708 across England and Wales and £19,223 in London.
Landlords have responded by demanding that tenants provide a guarantor before they agree deals. According to multiple reports, around 40% of landlords now require guarantors for both new and existing tenants. This is where RentGuarantor comes into play.
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The firm is a rare example of how effective London's capital markets can be for early-stage growth businesses. Founded in 2016 by Paul Foy, a property investor since the mid-1980s, RentGuarantor does what it says on the tin – guarantees rents. Tenants pay a fee (£20) for an initial background check and the firm uses tools such as Open Banking and AI to calculate how much the tenant can afford and if they're able to maintain payments. If the tenant passes the check, which should be completed the same day, RentGuarantor can offer the guarantee.
This incurs a further fee, usually around three to five weeks' rent, depending on the underlying risk profile. When the tenant has paid and signed, RentGuarantor provides a legally binding guarantee of rental payments to the landlord or letting agent. Unlike traditional guarantors, such as parents or grandparents, this provides an extra layer of protection for the landlord. RentGuarantor passes the risk to a panel of insurers while collecting the origination fee and remaining the key point of contact for customers.
Five years of RentGuarantor Holdings on the London market
After spending five years building the foundations, Foy and his team took the company public in 2021. It listed on the Aquis exchange in 2021 with hardly any revenue and moved to the Aim junior market in the second half of 2025. The new listing raised £4 million in 2025 to support its growth efforts and it ended the year with revenue of £2.4 million, up 87% year-on-year. The founder has remained a key shareholder with a 30% stake.
RentGuarantor hasn't charged into the market seeking break-neck growth and drawing down shareholders' goodwill to fund spending. There's a very tight grip on marketing spending, which totalled just £200,000 in 2024 and £500,000 in 2025 against revenue of £2.4 million, or around £165 per contract (based on the year-end figure of 3,123 contracts). The focus over the past five years has been on getting the offering right and putting in place the right technology and team to scale up effectively.
The firm has now reached the point where this hard work is beginning to pay off. In May, the month the Renters' Rights Act came into force, RentGuarantor recorded a 115% increase in unaudited revenue compared with the average for the first four months of the year. Moreover, revenue per contract was up 24%. The group also recorded its first positive monthly Ebitda earnings since its admission to trading – well ahead of the board's expectations.
The challenges facing RentGuarantor Holdings
The key risk for the group here will be scaling up without falling flat on its face, as so many firms do when they encounter a sudden surge in demand. The Act is driving demand for guarantees, but it'll also lead to a surge in disputes.
To help, RentGuarantor is looking to AI and has an expert on the matter in its orbit. The AI strategy is being led by Dave Cliff, a non-executive director and professor of computer science at the University of Bristol. He previously worked at MIT's artificial intelligence laboratory, so unlike many other businesses, which seem to be turning to AI with little actual understanding of the benefits, drawbacks and costs, RentGuarantor looks well-placed to exploit the benefits of the technology fully. Management estimates the group can process 20,000 contracts per year, but that will rise to 100,000 with AI's help.
According to house broker Shore Capital, RentGuarantor could agree 7,000 contracts this year, 13,000 in 2027 and 62,000 by 2030. Revenue could hit £6 million in 2026, rising to £19 million by 2028 and £54 million by 2030. Even if it achieves this lofty growth, it would still leave the group at only 3.4% of the potential total market.
Now that the firm is essentially self-funding, there's scope for marketing spending to rise. Shore Capital expects a ten times rise by 2030, easily covered by the firm's 79% gross margin. The broker has pencilled in adjusted earnings per share of 3.6p by 2028. As with all early-stage firms, these forecasts are likely to be wrong, but they illustrate the growth potential if the firm manages to scale up over the next 12 months. This is a high-risk play, but one with a huge and growing market to support it.
(Image credit: Aim)
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Contributor and former deputy digital editor of MoneyWeek
Rupert is the former deputy digital editor of MoneyWeek. He's an active investor and has always been fascinated by the world of business and investing. His style has been heavily influenced by US investors Warren Buffett and Philip Carret. He is always looking for high-quality growth opportunities trading at a reasonable price, preferring cash generative businesses with strong balance sheets over blue-sky growth stocks.
Rupert has written for many UK and international publications including the Motley Fool, Gurufocus and ValueWalk, aimed at a range of readers; from the first timers to experienced high-net-worth individuals. Rupert has also founded and managed several businesses, including the New York-based hedge fund newsletter, Hidden Value Stocks. He has written over 20 ebooks and appeared as an expert commentator on the BBC World Service.
