The Deposit Protection Scheme was put in place to protect both tenant and landlord in the case of a dispute when the former moved out. Previously and on one hand, landlords have been accused of unnecessarily and unfairly holding back deposits. A recent test case went in favour of students who lost all their deposit for painting over a small section of wall. They also protect the landlord when, from their perspective, careless tenants cause damage that will leave the owner out of pocket when discovered later.
New figures have revealed the extent to which student tenants are losing part of their deposits.
Deposit Protection Scheme
The DPS is in place to protect both tenant and landlord. It keeps the money in a separate account that neither party can access directly. Once a premises is vacated, the landlord states how much will be deducted (or issue a full refund) which the student tenant is able to challenge. The Deposit Protection Service recently revealed that 22% of vacating students lost part of their deposit at the end of the academic year 2017/18.
The biggest deductions were for:
- Cleaning work was highest at 63% of deductions. Student tenants leaving the property in a dirty state
- The second highest was damage at 54%
- The third was redecoration at 37%. This is a contentious area as wear and tear will take its toll, but redecoration as a deposit deduction is usually because of scuff marks on the wall
- The fourth highest was rent arrears at 23%. This is one of the biggest complaints from landlords: that students are failing to pay their last month of rent and using the deposit to cover it
- Gardening was next at 16%. This is one area that tenants tend to ignore
- The replacement of missing items was also 16%
- Finally, 4% of claims were for outstanding bills such as utilities
How to Reduce Your Chances of a Deposit Deduction
Students should always check their contract for their obligations. It will cover the obvious such as damage, broken or missing items. If you can, have the person responsible replace these items rather than having money deducted at the end. Ensure you check all the small print. You will be obliged to maintain the garden and to clean the flat at the end of your tenancy. The contract might state that you are obliged to hire professional cleaners. Even if it does not, you should give it a thorough clean on exit.
Simply, don’t give the property owner a reason to deduct money from your deposit and they won’t do so. If you’ve taken an inventory at move in, listing all the faults, broken items and damage, you can cover yourself against potentially being blamed for something you did not do.