Cleaning costs most common cause of student deposit deductions
Fresh research from independent comparison website money.co.uk has revealed the most common reasons why students’ deposits are withheld by landlords.
Results from the survey show that cleaning costs and damage to fixtures and fittings are the most common reasons why landlords hold some or all of a student’s deposit.
Holding
With young adults across the British Isles heading to University this month, many will have to face up to not getting their full deposit back at the conclusion of their agreement. In fact, data from the report shows that 38% of students will not receive their deposit in full.
Of those students, landlords typically keep 29% of their deposit, amounting to an average deduction of £164 each.
Cleaning amounted to over half of landlords’ reasons for not returning a deposit (52%), with students failing to return a property in an acceptable state of cleanliness for a full deposit return.
24% of landlords cited damage to fixtures and fittings as a reason for not returning deposits. Excessive wear and tear (22%) was also a popular reason. However, only 5% cited unpaid bills.
Cleaning costs most common cause of student deposit deductions
Unfair
Unsurprisingly, two out of three students felt that their tenancy deposit was retained unfairly. Alarmingly, roughly one-quarter of students did not receive prescribed information on the tenancy deposit scheme their deposit was registered with. One in ten claimed that their landlord did not even protect the deposit!
Despite, two-thirds of students claiming that their deposit was held unfairly, only 15% disputed the decision and got money back.
Hannah Maundrell, editor in chief at money.co.uk, observed that this is the first time that many students will have lived alone and rented out a property.
She noted, ‘landlords are not the enemy-students must make sure they keep the property in a decent state so there’s no reason for their landlord to keep their cash-this is money they’ll be relying on getting back.’[1]
‘With over half a million students in private rented accommodation the scope for problems is huge,’ she added.[1]
[1] https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2016/9/cleaning-costs-biggest-cause-of-deductions-to-student-rental-deposits