Students urged to protect deposits

Wednesday, 03, Sep 2008 01:15

With the new academic year just about to begin students are being urged to protect the deposits they are likely to place for accommodation.

Those entering university this year will pay an average rent of £75 for their student accommodation, with those in London and the south-east expected to pay well above this.

Deposits for property are likely to be around four times this figure, leaving students exposed to hundreds of pounds worth of liability if they fail to protect their deposit.

As such students are being advised to take advantage of a government-approved scheme designed to protect their deposits; mydeposits.co.uk.

The scheme was set up last year and ensures all landlords register every deposit they take within 14 days, or they will face a court fine.

Furthermore, the scheme also offers an impartial dispute resolution service to tenants, landlords and letting agencies alike should disagreements arise over how much money needs to be returned at the end of a tenancy.

The scheme's chairman David Salusbury advised students: "It is important for students to ask their new landlord where their cash is and with whom it is being protected.

"The overwhelming majority of tenancies have always ended amicably but mandatory tenancy deposit protection is now just part and parcel of a landlord's legal responsibilities."

In its first year of operation (to March 2008), the scheme safeguarded 200,000 individual tenants' deposits, worth £177 million.

During the same period there were just 341 disputes, with tenants favoured in 86 per cent of cases, nearly half of whom had their full deposits returned.

Just 11 per cent of disputes resulted in landlords or letting agencies being allowed to keep deposits.

Chris O'Toole