While most tenant’s deposits are returned without problems at the end of the lease period or tenancy, deposit disputes have ended more-regularly in the landlord’s favour this year compared to last.
Courtesy of @NobMouse on Flickr
According to My Deposits, 99.4% of private tenants’ deposits were returned without any problems, but landlords are currently being awarded a share of the deposit in 43% of cases, and being awarded the full deposit in eight per cent of cases.
Landlords providing better evidence to substantiate their claims has been highlighted as the reason for the move, by Eddie Hooker, MyDeposit.co.uk’s chief executive. They currently protect over 400, 000 tenant deposits, worth over £360 million.
Legislation on the matter holds the principle that the money is the property of the tenant until the landlord can justify holding all or part of it due to damage or maintenance costs. Since April 2007, when tenancy deposit protection became law, the scheme has received almost 20, 000 calls from tenants complaining about landlords, the majority of which (11, 000) were settled amicably between landlord and tenant.
New rules which come into force in October require landlords to formally protect deposits for tenancies worth between £25, 000-£100, 000 per year. Until now the tenancy deposit legislation only applied to Assured Shorthold Tenancies worth up to £25, 000 because those valued above this were seen as contractual, although this has been to the disadvantage to some tenants, such as students sharing large properties.
If you’re looking for a way of securing tenant’s deposits, you might want to consider trying out some landlord associations for advice and best practise.
