Tenants 'not taking back deposits'

27/11/2009

The Deposit Protection Service (DPS) has said that tenants have yet to reclaim around £5 million of their initial deposits to landlords.

According to the organisation, many of the unpaid deposits have come about due to tenants changing addresses and not keeping their contact details updated.

This makes it more difficult for firms such as the DPS to send the money on.

Kevin Firth, DPS director, said: "I must urge tenants to give us accurate and up to date information to ensure that their deposit money can be returned as quickly as possible at the end of the tenancy."

EuroDebt director Kevin Still added: "This story highlights several key messages. Firstly, make sure that you reclaim your deposit, as it is likely to be worth your while. Nobody likes stumping up a deposit twice, as this can badly affect you cashflow. Secondly, ensure that you keep your information up-to-date so that a ‘Service Provider’ that is designed to protect you can stay in touch.

"We are committed to finding ways of maximising income and reducing excessive expenditure, so this will be an obvious future question when we are seeing tenants in financial difficulty. If you have been a good tenant then you would want to carry forward your deposit from one tenancy agreement to the next, even if you are downsizing. EuroDebt works with many Residential Letting Agents [RLAs] to find amicable ways of dealing with early rent arrears to avoid eviction and for the agent to have to claim on their insurance policies.

"This benefits both the RLA and the tenant. It is in everybody’s interest to find an amicable solution when someone is in financial difficulty and find cheaper accommodation without putting the deposit at risk."

DPS figures also showed that around 8,000 of the 480,000 deposits it protects are still unpaid.

Tags; Housing Debt and Bills, Credit Card Lifestyle, Recent Graduate Debt,

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