Deposit not returned if tenant leaves within six months

A_Nice_Englishman

A friend viewed a flat yesterday and agreed to rent it, although no money has changed hands, nothing has been signed yet and we haven't seen the tenancy agreement.

The landlord said the deposit wouldn't be returned if my friend left within six months. I've never heard of anything like this. We know that under a standard AST rent is payable for the agreed term even if the tenant moves out, but is it legal to retain the deposit in these circumstances?

b33r

Presumably it's just a re-worded way of saying the minimum term is 6 months. One would imagine that if you left after 1 month you wouldn't keep paying rent, however if you did i imagine the landlord would gladly return the deposit after the 6th month.

If thats the only term then I would say it's pretty good because a lot would make you pay the full rent every month, the way your friend has it she would only lose her deposit if she left within the first six months. (There is probably a cross over point around the end of month 4 I'm guessing where the rent left is equal to the deposit)

A_Nice_Englishman

I just hope he's not expecting the balance of the six months rent AND keeping the deposit if she leaves within six months. That would surely be out of order!

Debt_Free_Chick

I think it's a sloppy of way of saying "you keep your side of the bargain and I'll keep mine".

If the tenant leaves before the end of the fixed term, they are liable to continue to pay the rent. BUT the LL must "mitigate" his loss by taking reasonable steps to find a new tenant. In practice, the old tenant continues to pay the rent until a new tenant moves in .... or until the end of the fixed term, whichever occurs first.

Should the old tenant do this, then the LL has no grounds to refuse to return the deposit. And if they did refuse, it would be pretty quickly sorted out by the relevant tenant deposit protection scheme.