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Most Tenants Believe Landlords Do Not Protect Deposits
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
Most Tenants Believe Landlords Do Not Protect Deposits
The majority of tenants (80%) believe that their landlord has not protected their deposit in one of the Government’s approved schemes, according to a recent study.
The research, conducted by online letting agent PropertyLetByUs.com, also shows that just 4% of renters say their landlord or letting agent placed their deposit in a scheme within 30 days of receiving it.
Additionally, only 8% of tenants have been given a receipt for their deposit and one in six tenants do not know who to speak to regarding concerns they have about deposits.
It is a legal requirement for landlords or their agents to place a tenant’s deposit within a Government-approved scheme within 30 days of receiving it. According to PropertyLetByUs, many landlords and agents may be abiding by the law, but they could do more to reassure renters that their deposits are safe.
Managing Director of PropertyLetByUs, Jane Morris, comments on the findings: “Many tenants don’t realise that they can log into the deposit scheme websites to see if their deposit has been placed with them. Landlords could also provide tenants with a copy of the confirmation produced by the tenant deposit schemes.
“There will be rogue landlords out there that are completely ignoring their legal responsibilities and the punishment is very costly. Landlords face fines for not registering deposits with a scheme, such as the Deposit Protection Service, MyDeposits or the Tenancy Deposit Scheme. Fines are unlimited and are worked out at three times the initial deposit.”1
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1 http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/deposit-worries-for-majority-of-tenants.html
