Geting your deposit back...............?

lukemed1

Hi everyone,

when renting, how does the process of getting your deposit back work? does the landlord pay it into a scheme and then if everything's ok with the property then he returns it to you, if there are problems then he'll make the necessary reducttions from the deposit?

thanks for any help

Luke

Gwhiz

Basically yes BUT if the ll wants to make a deduction he has to get your agreement. If you do not agree then it goes to arbitration and that can mean a delay in getting anything back. The deposit scheme is there to prevent LL taking deductions without your agreement.

tbs624

There are 3 schemes - one requires the LL to pay the actual deposit money across to the schemes administrators, and the other 2 are insurance based, with the LL retaining the tenancy deposit for the duration. the first is the free one, the other two charge the LL/LA fees.

If a LL wants to make deductions froma T's deposit he would have to confirm these in writing to the T, and the T can then agree, or dispute if s/he thinks s/he has grounds to do so, either via the scheme's arbitration process or via the small claims court. A decent inventory protects both the LL and the T

You can read up on tenancy deposit schemes, who they are and how they operate etc here

lukemed1

most informative, thankyou

Luke