Almost two in five tenants may be erroneously losing their deposit funds for claims on general wear and tear, research suggests.
A survey of 2,000 tenants by Nationwide – asking for reasons why renters have lost deposit funds – found that 39% had received deductions at the end of the tenancy for general wear and tear.
The research didn’t delve into the level of the wear and tear but comes despite guidance from the deposit protection schemes stating that landlords have to allow for “fair wear and tear” when considering deductions.
Guidance from the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) said wear and tear is one of the main disputes.
The TDS said an adjudicator would allow for natural wear and tear based on the length of the tenancy, the number and age of occupiers and the quality and condition of items when first provided and would weigh up whether there was any actual damage.
This wasn’t the only reason for deductions, with 41% losing money to cover cleaning, rising to 68% for of 18 to 24-year-olds.
One in seven had deposits debited for redecorating costs and 12% had been charged for damage to contents, while 5% had to cover damage to buildings and 4% had money taken for previous rent arrears.
When tenants did get their deposit back, the average time to receive it was 1.8 months.
Almost half (46%) of private renters surveyed received their deposit back within a month of leaving, almost one in five (18%) were made to wait more than three months and a further one in 25 (4%) for more than six months.
Paul Wootton, director of specialist lending for Nationwide, said: “While our research suggests that the majority of landlords return tenancy deposits quickly and fairly, it also highlights remaining areas of confusion over what can or should be debited from deposit returns.
“Both landlords and tenants can take simple steps at the start and end of each tenancy to protect against discrepancies and understand their own responsibilities – resulting in a better experience for all.
“However, where end of tenancy issues cannot be resolved, we need a specialist housing court, equipped to provide fast and effective arbitration, as well as greater confidence of equitable experiences for all.”
Comments (7)
Forget about deposits, for me, too much risk.
Is that 2 in 5 figure taken from all tenants, or tenants that have had a deposit dispute?
What proportion of tenants that have deposit deductions agree with them? In my experience, roughly 75% completely disagree and 20% of the remainder agree, but grudgingly.
Stories like this just don’t ring true if there are no disputes with the deposit. With the DPS if the landlord and tenant agree, even if there are deductions, it can be paid back in a matter of days as long as both parties respond to the emails sent. If there are disputes then obviously the disputed parts take time as they need to collate all the information and stick to the adjudication timescales.
No mention of landlords having to wait for excessive periods of time for refund of money due to them!
So perhaps the Nationwide need some education rather than one of the many who throw around meaningless and corrupted statistics. The Deposit protection companies are responsible for for administration of these schemes. Remember they were appointed by the Government. Landlords have to provide “prescribed information” for the deposit schemes; they have to provide further “prescribed information” (a term used confuse everyone) by way of the How to Rent booklet (the government managed to get wrong and had to re-publish after about 2 weeks). The relevant information is provided. So what next? Wet nurses for tenants at the landlords expense? Why do the Nationwide charge higher rates for buy to let mortgages? a business decision to make more money yet they feel they should dictate the business decisions of landlords. Hypocrites.
Just had a cut and dry case with DPS where tenant didn’t provide any evidence, didn’t therefore go to adjudicator but still took 7 weeks for DPS to pay landlord back. Why should landlords wait so long? DPS say they cannot cope with volume, imagine what next year will be like when deposits are capped!
These deposits schemes are clearly in favour of tenants id suggest any figures of claims agreed are for clear damages, or a landlord can’t get it through