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Getting a holding deposit back
Becca87_2
Posts: 28 Forumite
Hi. I hope someone can help me! 
My partner and I saw a house on a letting agent's website two weeks ago that we liked the look of. We arranged to view it, but the appointment was cancelled and rescheduled three times by the agent. The pictures of the house looked promising, and we didn't want the house to go before we had a chance to look at it, so we went into the agent's office last week and put down a £200 holding deposit before viewing. We then went to see the house on Friday, and it was a big disappointment! It's not in a state that's fit to move into, and the landlord is apparently prepared to do very little to it. The woman who showed us round listened to our concerns about the condition of the property and told us to go away and think about it. She said that if we change our mind, we should go into the office and get our holding deposit back. However, after reading things online I'm not sure we will actually be able to get the money back.
Where do we stand here? £200 is a lot of money to lose! We can't afford to let it slip away, especially as we've since viewed a different house, fallen in love with it and need to pay a bond and first month's rent when we move in.
Thank you in advance.
My partner and I saw a house on a letting agent's website two weeks ago that we liked the look of. We arranged to view it, but the appointment was cancelled and rescheduled three times by the agent. The pictures of the house looked promising, and we didn't want the house to go before we had a chance to look at it, so we went into the agent's office last week and put down a £200 holding deposit before viewing. We then went to see the house on Friday, and it was a big disappointment! It's not in a state that's fit to move into, and the landlord is apparently prepared to do very little to it. The woman who showed us round listened to our concerns about the condition of the property and told us to go away and think about it. She said that if we change our mind, we should go into the office and get our holding deposit back. However, after reading things online I'm not sure we will actually be able to get the money back.
Where do we stand here? £200 is a lot of money to lose! We can't afford to let it slip away, especially as we've since viewed a different house, fallen in love with it and need to pay a bond and first month's rent when we move in.
Thank you in advance.
0
Comments
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If the agent said you'll get your money back then you should be OK. The advice I'd always give when dealing with landlords and letting agents is make sure you get everything in writing. I know this from bitter experience.
If they don't give you your money back, there's not much you can do.
If it was me I'd just refuse to leave their office until I got my money back. These places have reputations to maintain, and somebody in their office shouting the place down won't look good to other potential customers!
On another (sneaky) note, most mobile phones now come with a voice recorder so you can use them as a dictaphone. When you're viewing houses with an agent/landlord just hit record and keep it in your top pocket.
When someone denies saying something, watching them squirm when you play it back to them is priceless :-)
I know it's illegal to record phone conversations without the other person's knowledge, but I'm not sure about face to face conversations.0 -
The holding-deposit is ostensibly to secure the property and for the agents not to show it to anyone else. If they haven't carried out any credit-reference checks or any other service for you then I would go back to the agents and ask for it back. Pick a really busy time of day and not leave until you've got it.0
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What does your receipt say about refunds?so we went into the agent's office last week and put down a £200 holding deposit before viewing.
And what do their terms and conditions say?
(you DID get a receipt and read the T&Cs didn't you?)0
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