Recent research carried out on behalf of removal firm, Kiwi Movers, has revealed that many tenants are not getting their full deposits back when they vacate a rental property.
Landlords Holding On to Deposits
The survey questioned 1,034 people and the results indicated that landlords withheld 52 per cent of all deposits, either fully or partially. If you look at the bigger picture, this figure represents more than 400k deposits, which is a lot of money. In total, 80 per cent of tenants questioned said they had experienced problems when trying to get their deposit back at the end of a tenancy.
Why do Landlords Withhold Deposits?
There are many reasons why landlords decide to keep a tenant’s deposit, but the people questioned in this survey cited cleaning and minor repair issues as the main reason in this survey. Of course it is hardly surprising this is the case. Calling in a cleaning company to thoroughly clean the carpets and making repairs all takes time and money; so most landlords will pass this back to the tenant.
25 per cent of tenants had to wait ages for their deposit to be returned, even though there was no reason to hold on to the money and a further 25 per cent only got their money back after a dispute with the landlord. Tenants living in London had the biggest problems.
20 per cent were lucky enough to get their deposit back without any issues.
Landlords – why would you hold on to a tenant’s deposit? Let us know in the comments!
