Tenants urged to reclaim cash from landlords

Campaign group Generation Rent has urged tenants to check their landlord doesn’t hold more than five weeks’ rent as a deposit.

If that is the case tenants are entitled to a refund.

Since the Tenant Fees Act was introduced in June 2019 letting fees have been banned and tenancy deposits have been capped at five weeks.

a positive impact in reducing tenants’ costs of moving home

Tenancy deposits schemes are becoming popular.

By March 2021 there was a collective total of £4.35bn protected by the three legally recognised schemes, the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, Deposit Protection Scheme and MyDeposits.

The government has previously promised a Lifetime Deposit to reduce the barriers to moving between tenancies.

Since the Tenant Fees Act was introduced private renters have an average of £113 more in their pockets.

Freedom of Information requests from Generation Rent to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government found that the average deposit value before the cap was £1,108, but this fell to £1,025 in March 2021.

Alicia Kennedy, Director of Generation Rent, said: “It is good to see that the Tenants Fees Act is having a positive impact in reducing tenants’ costs of moving home. If you’ve signed a tenancy since June 2019 and paid more than five weeks’ rent as a deposit then you are protected.

“But deposits remain a large barrier to moving, making it hard for tenants to move out of an unsuitable property and putting tenants who face eviction at risk of homelessness. Renters who lack savings need a way of transferring their deposit from their current tenancy to the next one without being ripped off with a poverty premium.

“As the government finalises its Lifetime Deposit proposals it must standardise and speed up the deposit disputes process, which currently allows unscrupulous landlords to waste tenants’ time with spurious claims.”

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our Tenancy Services team on 03333 208 333 or lettings@centrick.co.uk