Ah, the deposits! For almost two decades tenants have struggled with the current system as strangers dipped their sticky fingers into this lucrative honeypot. Conservative estimates quote figures of tens of millions each year stolen or misappropriated by agents and landlords alike. So, heaven be praised, the government has finally acted.
A Tenancy Deposit Scheme came into in operation on 6 April 2007 and woe betide the landlords who don’t obey this new rule.However, and it’s a big however, introducing all the systems to get a scheme as big as this off the ground has been an enormous task and, in truth, the system may still be subject to delays and hiccups. However, credit where it’s due. The old system was a mess. A better system is long overdue and now things should begin improving for tenants and landlords.Because I can only show you the broad principles in a guide that covers so much ground, I’m going to begin this lesson with a few website addresses.
Familiarise yourself with them. Keep an eye on progress as free booklets are beginning to be released, www.commumties.gov.uk/tenancy.deposits. Run through the links under Housing. Another particularly good site is a landlord site – it’s the RLA (Residential Landlords Association) and this has a great Q&A session that anyone can understand at www.rla.org.uk.
Alternatively your Citizens’ Advice Bureau will (hopefully) soon have details, or if you get stuck ring your local council, explain what you need and they’ll find someone in the private rental sector department to help you. Eventually, I have every confidence that the government will soon have one of their excellent booklets. Until then, it’s web web web.Meanwhile I’ll do the best I can to explain:
Who Deposits Belong To
Whenever you decide to rent a property, now or under any new scheme, you will be required to pay a deposit against damage and unpaid bills during and after your tenancy. This deposit belongs to tenants. It doesn’t now, nor did it ever, belong to landlords/agents. Unfortunately, many people didn’t seem to appreciate that legal nicety. Hence the need for new legal protections for tenants.
If you are asked to pay a deposit of more than two months’ rent, you really need to take some specialist advice. You may be able to claim that you have paid a ‘premium’, which confers some additional legal rights. It’s most unlikely to happen if you use an experienced landlord or agent so be warned, life is easier if tenants do business with a landlord who knows the current rules.
The Carrot And Stick Principle
All landlords/agents need a deposit in order to safeguard the contents and condition of the property they are letting out. There are tenants who abuse property. Tenants who leave behind a trail of bad debts,
which can leave new tenants facing nightmares with their own credit or fending off bailiffs. Tenants who really expect someone else to scrape a year’s fat from the cooker and scrub behind the loo for free when they leave. You name it, all landlords have seen it.
A deposit is our only protection against this. What seems to have got lost somewhere is the carrot concept, the idea that, given a nice clean flat to start with and a thorough inventory agreed by both parties, tenants do clear up in order to get their much needed deposit back.
Of course, the vast majority of tenants do not damage property. On the contrary, most do their level best to ensure that property is returned in good order simply because they really need the deposit refund. Most obtain a full refund. Many obtain a part refund (though many experience vastly inflated ‘charges’). What the legislators are seeking to prevent are inflated costs and to protect the ten per cent of tenants who get nothing back at all. Because ten per cent nationally is an awful lot of cash going walkies.
Under the existing system, getting money back from people doing their level best to stop you is where the fun and games so often start.