House share, deposit?

apeskin

I've been looking at a lot of places on spareroom, some of them are asking for a £500 deposit on a room?! :mad:

With that obviously being a fair old chunk of money, what's the best way to go about protecting it? Just handing that dosh over to the landlord/sharer etc seems very risky. What would you do?

Pixie5740

We need some context. How much is the rent for these rooms asking for a £500 deposit? It's common for deposits to be equivalent to 1 month or 1.5 months worth of rent.

What kind of room is it? A room where you will be a lodger sharing with the landlord or a room in a HMO where you will be a tenant? It makes a big difference as the latter would require your deposit being registered with a scheme whereas the former wouldn't.

Presumably you'd have the bank details of where to pay the rent each month so could just make a bank transfer to the same account to pay the deposit or if paying cash ask for a receipt.

TomTomTomTom

As mentioned above paying 4-6 weeks rent as a deposit is not unusual.

If it's a HMO then it should be in a protected scheme - which is good.
But HMO/Scheme or no - i would want to ensure that :
The deposit is mentioned in the contract.
You've got some pictures /inventory/stock take of the room/house when you move in.
And it's clearly explained what the deposit is for and how /when it is refunded.

I'd be cautious about paying something in cash - bank transfer is more traceable and proovable. Anyone can do a squiggle (signature) on a bit of paper so a landlord could deny having received it. If the contract mentions it, you have a copy of ID with signature of the landlord , or the receipt is from an agent/established business on their headed paper then this would all make it more acceptable to pay in cash.

I've always had huge issues with deposits, and unfortuately you should be cautious about expecting to get it back. Things I've done before to try and make sure i do get it back are :
- take pictures and inventory any issues in the house when i move in. Even if the landlord hasn't signed off the inventory or been present -i've sent them the pictures/info soon after arrival - so they are aware and i have a record of this communication.
- Where the contract doesn't mention something i think is importnat, but this has been discussed verbally - i'll email the landlord with the notes from our conversation to tell them what i and he/she has agreed to.
- Promptly tell the landlord of any issues /accidents that arise while i'm in the property - eg you return to find something broken - tell them it's happened while you were away (ie was part of normal wear and tear, not something you're responsible for) and now needs repair.
- Insist that a checkout of the property is done before i leave.
- Refuse to handover over keys until the check out is done and the landlord signs that they have inspected the property and listed all issues with the house that might give rise to a deduction from the deposit. (having hefty friends with me at the time so that there was less chance of me being intimidated into compromising my situation).

Some people also withhold the last month's rent - which is not a legitimate thing to do , but having had the difficulty i've had getting money back, i can well understand why it happens.

I've had landlord's submit false receipts for £600+ worth of cleaning - to try and justify not returning the deposit. The company mentioned on the receipt didn't exist, legal letters got nowhere. You end up writing the money off.