How do you handle tenancy deposits correctly when renting a London flat?
Deposit too expensive? What are the options if you don’t want to provide a deposit?
Read our handy guide for Guests below to understand all you need to know about deposits in a tenancy!
(Please note – this page deals with tenancy deposits, which are different from holding deposits.)
A traditional tenancy deposit is a refundable amount of money given by you as the renter, and held in escrow by us as a security for the property Owner against losses related to your stay. This escrow account is officially registered with a UK government-approved scheme: mydeposits.
This deposit amount will be around 5-6 times the agreed weekly rent. This will be paid into a client monies account and held there by us, until your move out, and returned to you afterwards.
After you move out, we will inform you within 10 working days if there is to be any claim made on your deposit, to cover any damages in the property. Once we have informed you of that intention, over the following weeks, we will confirm with you the exact amount to be claimed.
We will return the unclaimed or uncontested portion of the deposit to you. For example, if your deposit is £1000, and the deduction claim is £150, we will return the uncontested £850 amount to you.
Note: the above-described requirements to register the deposit with a deposit scheme, the cap on deposit amounts at 5-6 times the weekly rent, and the 10-day period for deposit claims, only apply to tenancies that fall under the Housing Act 2004 UK legislation (i.e. that are “Assured Shorthold Tenancies”). There is a slightly different process followed for deposit collection and handling for licenses to rent properties where the named tenant is a company (i.e. rather than an individual person), and also for short stays (e.g. rental periods of 3 months or less).
As an alternative to a traditional deposit, renters can choose a Deposit Replacement Scheme. This option is also sometimes referred to as a Zero Deposit or No Deposit scheme, depending on the provider’s branding.
This involves paying a fee (equal to one week’s rent +VAT, split evenly between the household members), which is non-refundable, to the scheme provider. One example would be flatfair who provide their No Deposit scheme.
This scheme allows you, as the renter, more financial flexibility as compared to a traditional deposit option (because you do not have to offer up the much larger sum of 5 x the weekly rent).
However, you do have to meet the scheme’s acceptance and reference check criteria.
Note also that you will still be liable for rent arrears, and for damages you cause in the property.
We are not able to offer this option for our renters at this time. Please speak to your Host during your rental application if you have any further questions or concerns relating to these schemes.
Before moving in to your new home, you may be asked to pay a monetary deposit that will be held by us during the length of your stay. This deposit will be refunded to you in full, unless there are any rent arrears, bill arrears, or property damage when you move out.
This is also known as as “traditional deposit”, “tenancy deposit”, or “security deposit”. For rental contracts that fall under the category “Assured Shorthold Tenancy”, the tenancy deposit amount you have to pay is calculated like this:
In either case, the exact amount of the tenancy deposit will be shown on our website advert listing page for that particular rental property, and will also be set out in your rental contract.
In line with current English law, your tenancy deposit will be held by is in an escrow account. That ring-fenced bank account, and your deposit, will be protected within one of the three UK government-approved schemes, for example mydeposits is one of those schemes that we at RentLondonFlat work with.
We will register with the scheme to protect the deposit, and provide you information about the deposit and where is it being protected within 30 days of your paying the deposit to us.
No Deposit is an example of a deposit replacement scheme, operated by Flatfair. There are also other schemes that offer this.
No Deposit is an alternative option for you as renters, who may not want to pay the whole deposit up front and/or wants to offer the Owner a larger deposit than is permitted under the traditional tenancy deposit regulations (these are limited to 6 times the weekly rent).
A No Deposit scheme allows for a greater level of security for both you and the Owner. For example, there could be as much as 10 times the weekly rent amount worth of damages and/or rent arrears awarded. This could be useful for example if you wish to keep a pet in a property, and there is a concern as to whether the limited traditional deposit option will offer enough security against property damage during your stay.
For avoidance of doubt, the No Deposit option does not remove your contractual obligations during your stay, i.e. to pay the rent on time and return the property to us in an acceptable condition.
You can find more information here flatfair.co.uk/tenants
We are not able to offer this option for our renters at this time. Please speak to your Host during your rental application if you have any further questions or concerns relating to these schemes.
When you vacate the property , we will assess the condition of the property at the start of tenancy with the condition at the end. We will use the check in and check in report/video which we would have taken and shared with you during the tenancy to make any proposed deductions. This normally takes between 10 and 40 days to be completed depending on the nature of any works required and the progress of any negotiations.
The simple answer is: to ensure the property is returned in a similar condition to how it was provided to you when you moved in.
If the property has been cleaned and all possessions removed, then it is very unlikely we will propose any deductions.
We will only propose any deductions, where we have clear evidence that you have broken the terms of your contract, for example if there is unreasonable damage to the property beyond normal and fair wear and tear. To understand more about reasonable wear and tear, see here.
We would advise you to consult with your Host to prepare ahead of time and avoid nasty surprises after the move out inspection.
Nevertheless, we list some illustrative costs here, just for your reference, and to set rough expectations of the range of the charges.
Property cleaning: £150-£300+ per property, depending on the size, from 1 to 3 or more bedrooms.
Removal of items you left behind: £10-£100 per item, depending on size of the item, from a small box of shoes, to a large item requiring 2 people to carry it.
Painting: £50 per hour labour cost plus materials.
Lost keys: £30 per metal key, the cost for security access cards and fobs could be more, depending on building staff charges that vary between developments.
This means there are unusual damages found to the property (i.e. beyond fair wear and tear), and the repairs and costs have not yet been agreed between you and the Owner.
Our team will guide you through this to try and get a fair conclusion.
If, as in rare cases, the issues still cannot be agreed upon, external arbitration through the deposit scheme may be required, please consult the scheme website for further details, or our team can also provide those to you.
You have the right to raise a dispute with the Government approved deposit scheme within 90 days of the end of your tenancy if you disagree with any proposed deductions. We will provide proof on behalf of the landlord for any deductions proposed using the check in and check out report/video along with estimates. You are also allowed to provide any evidence which assists you in the dispute. An impartial assessor working of behalf of the deposit scheme, will make a binding decision on both parties using the submissions provided.
You will be asked to provide a UK bank account for the return of the deposit, when you request to move out using the Guest Help Form.
We can only accept UK bank accounts, not international bank accounts.
If you are sharing a rental contract with others, we will return the deposit to one nominated bank account only.
It is your responsibility to then further share the deposit contributions amongst yourselves as you see fit.
