Rent deposit: a worrying trend
11 May 2025(2025 May) Word of warning for tenants of new leases and on assignment and sublets.
Given the choice between a rent deposit and a guarantor, many tenants prefer the former. However, currently, I am involved with two lease expiries where the landlords are withholding my clients’ rent deposits. In each case, the landlord’s reasoning is that the terminal schedule of dilapidations warrants it, even though the schedule has not been agreed and there’s no certainty that the landlord’s claim is valid.
If this is symptomatic of a trend in the making, then it is worrying. When committing to a lease, it would be better to be a guarantor and have the responsibility capped at the equivalent of a rent deposit. That would avoid an open-ended obligation. Worst scenario, you would have to pay if the SoD cannot be defeated, but at least you would part with your money, as distinct from the landlord refusing to part with it.
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