The wide majority of renters cannot get their tenancy deposit back without some kind of dispute and lose around £40 million per year through money withheld by their landlords.
A recent survey by removals and logistics firm Kiwi Movers revealed that almost £200 million of tenancy deposits were withheld over the past five years with 80 per cent of tenants having to fight their landlords in some way to get some money back.
Just one in five tenants (20 per cent) said they had no problems and got their full deposit back. The proportion of people who were able to get back their full deposit but had to fight the landlord or the letting agency is also relatively small — 28 per cent.
Nearly half (46 per cent) of tenants lost part of their deposit and 6 per cent lost their entire deposit, which corresponds to 252,000 entire deposits lost in the past five years.
What is the likelihood of losing your deposit?
If you are a young person living with your friends in London you are the most likely to lose your deposit, according to the survey. London is the deposit dispute hotspot, with 11 per cent of tenants in the capital likely to lose their whole deposit. And people aged 18 to 24 living with friends are more likely to lose money compared to people living with partner or spouse, living alone or with other people they did not know before moving in.
Most likely to lose deposit:
- Tenants living with friends
- Students in rented house
- Tenants living with partner or spouse
Tenancy dispute hot spots:
- London
- Scotland
- West Midlands
- North East
The most common reasons for lost deposits:
- Minor repairs required – 33%
- Cleaning required – 29%
- Items missing from inventory – 19%
- Unpaid bills – 16%
- Other – 3%
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