Private tenants are in a “precarious” position within the housing market, having to part with larger rental deposits which then run the risk of not being protected.
The Centre for Economics and Business Research estimates that roughly 284,000 landlords are not protecting their tenants’ deposits.
In a new report, the CEBR estimates that the average deposit is £1,040, and that landlords are currently sitting on £514m worth of unprotected deposits.
The report estimates a total of 1.9m landlords in the UK, excluding corporate entities, holiday lets and people who take in lodgers. Of these, it estimates that around 85% comply with tenancy deposit legislation.
The figure has moved up since tenancy deposit protection became compulsory – in 2008, it stood at just 35%.
However, the report emphasises: “Unprotected deposits give landlords the capacity to unfairly retain tenants’ cash.” In a dispute situation, the tenant’s only recourse is legal action.
The report also points out that as rents rise, so do deposits, and it calls for greater protection of tenants and their money.
It splits market share held by each of the three schemes, showing the Tenancy Deposit Scheme having 42% of the market, followed by the Deposit Protection Service at 32%, and MyDeposits at 25%.
It says TDS has the largest market share because the majority of its members are agents, whose landlords tend to have higher value properties, requiring larger deposits.
More here
Comments (3)
If these figures are correct, 284000 is a vast number of people who for some reason are not querying their rights, that’s if the figures are accurate. Maybe, just maybe there is an error in the factual source of them, another part of the current ‘Landlord Bashing’ program being promoted by HM Government. If these people can be identified then it is high time strong enforcement took place. If the figures quoted are anything less than accurate let us see fair play and action taken against the users of misinformation.
” ……284,000 landlords are not protecting their tenants’ deposits”.
That is a big number for the word to have not got around to the tenants that they get 3 times the deposit paid to them. 284,000 landlords can’t evict their tenants!
lets make it even more illegal not to protect deposits then, like illegal but all in capitals? ILLEGAL