Where a tenant is a company and the landlord requires a director as guarantor or a rent deposit, that person is exposed to both the risk of rent and all other terms and conditions of the tenancy, should the company default. But an advantage to the tenant in opting for a guarantor is that the landlord has no control of the guarantor's financial affairs which means the guarantor might not in the event be found to have any assets. An alternative to a guarantor (or as well as if the landlord is insistent and/or the tenant willing) is a rent deposit, normally between three and twelve months rent. The deposit can only be used for the express purposes per the deed, but the advantage to a landlord is being able to withdraw from the amount rent and other monies payable in default. Interest normally accrues to the principal and may be repayable to the tenant at intervals. For the landlord, the snag with a deposit is that often it's only a once or twice useable protection and which can be eroded by forgetting to require a top-up of the deposit on a rent review increase. The downside for the tenant, as well as parting with capital and the possibility of never seeing it again, despite the terms of the deposit deed, is that in the market a prospective assignee for the tenancy might not be able to afford or be willing to hand over the same amount.