Does my landlord have to pay me interest on my deposit?
Discussion
Sold a house but didn't have a new one to move to yet, so rented a house for 20 months. Paid the landlord £4200 as a deposit, which I understand he has to keep safe under some sort of scheme. Now it's time for him to pay my deposit back and I enquired about the interest on my money. He says it's only £2 something, which doesn't sound right after 20 months.
So my question is this. Does the landlord have to pay me my interest earned on the deposit (still my money after all), and doesn't he have to make sure the money is kept in an account that will pay at least an average amount of interest? In other words, if he chooses to put it in an account earning no interest whatsoever, am I not still entitled to the interest I would have earned had I kept it in a savings account? I didn't mismanage the money - he did. Thanks in advance for any replies, whether they are encouraging or not!
So my question is this. Does the landlord have to pay me my interest earned on the deposit (still my money after all), and doesn't he have to make sure the money is kept in an account that will pay at least an average amount of interest? In other words, if he chooses to put it in an account earning no interest whatsoever, am I not still entitled to the interest I would have earned had I kept it in a savings account? I didn't mismanage the money - he did. Thanks in advance for any replies, whether they are encouraging or not!
The idea is that your landlord puts it into a protected scheme so that he cant spend or invest it and lose it. Those schemes can have a repayment back to the landlord (not all do), but not to you.
The deposit you gave the landlord isnt an investment, it's insurance against you stting on the floor and them being stuck with a bill for cleaning it.
The deposit you gave the landlord isnt an investment, it's insurance against you stting on the floor and them being stuck with a bill for cleaning it.
Rick101 said:
4 grand for a rental deposit?
Regardless, if you think most households have 4 grand you are living in cloud cuckoo land. I'd prob put it closer to £400.
More like it. I think in many cases people are only really a couple of empty payruns of it all going south. While I'm sure many on here will point, laugh and go back to counting their billions, for a lot of people the actual ability to save is fairly limitedRegardless, if you think most households have 4 grand you are living in cloud cuckoo land. I'd prob put it closer to £400.
Having said that, a £4k deposit on a £2k pcm rental isnt completely out of the question
andy-xr said:
More like it. I think in many cases people are only really a couple of empty payruns of it all going south. While I'm sure many on here will point, laugh and go back to counting their billions, for a lot of people the actual ability to save is fairly limited
Having said that, a £4k deposit on a £2k pcm rental isnt completely out of the question
It's quite scary really. We definitely need to be teaching financial education in schools. Having said that, a £4k deposit on a £2k pcm rental isnt completely out of the question
The rental was £2800 per month. £4200 as a deposit didn't seem unreasonable to me.
Thanks for all the replies - If that's the way it is then I'm more than happy to take my deposit back and let the landlord keep his couple of quid interest. He's actually got a few rental properties and was pretty sketchy on how he'd keep the deposit safe. He said he'd registered with the deposit scheme but I had understood that they don't actually hold the funds. I'm almost 100% certain he didn't lodge it with any deposit scheme - he just set up a separate savings account.
Thanks for all the replies - If that's the way it is then I'm more than happy to take my deposit back and let the landlord keep his couple of quid interest. He's actually got a few rental properties and was pretty sketchy on how he'd keep the deposit safe. He said he'd registered with the deposit scheme but I had understood that they don't actually hold the funds. I'm almost 100% certain he didn't lodge it with any deposit scheme - he just set up a separate savings account.
Edited by Sushifiend on Friday 20th November 19:49
My understanding is that if the landlord has not secured the deposit in an approved scheme then he is being quite naughty and could infact end up paying you compensation for upto 3x the deposit amount. On £4+k that is quite some amount so could be worth persuing if the landlord has not complied with his legal responsibilities.
http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/tenancy_d...
https://www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection/if-y...
http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/tenancy_d...
A search on moneysavingexpert will also throw up many cases of this with some advice on how to proceed.
Me, even if the money was apparently 'safe' in an seperate account I would not at all be happy with the landlord not complying with the requirements.
http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/tenancy_d...
https://www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection/if-y...
http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/tenancy_d...
A search on moneysavingexpert will also throw up many cases of this with some advice on how to proceed.
Me, even if the money was apparently 'safe' in an seperate account I would not at all be happy with the landlord not complying with the requirements.
Edited by gazapc on Friday 20th November 21:19
Edited by gazapc on Friday 20th November 21:21
Sushifiend said:
I'm almost 100% certain he didn't lodge it with any deposit scheme - he just set up a separate savings account.
You should have received at least an email from the deposit agency.Edited by Sushifiend on Friday 20th November 19:49
In order to get the deposit back you need to lodge a request which your landlord then approves.
If a scheme wasn't set up within a few weeks of the start of the tenancy then the landlord is liable to quite significant penalties.
I guess there's no real foul if he returns it all but quite a bit of leverage on your part if he tries to withhold anything.
He is taking big risks for little benefit if he didn't set up a scheme.
If you let via an agent they should have made sure that a deposit scheme was set up.
Sushifiend said:
The rental was £2800 per month. £4200 as a deposit didn't seem unreasonable to me.
Thanks for all the replies - If that's the way it is then I'm more than happy to take my deposit back and let the landlord keep his couple of quid interest. He's actually got a few rental properties and was pretty sketchy on how he'd keep the deposit safe. He said he'd registered with the deposit scheme but I had understood that they don't actually hold the funds. I'm almost 100% certain he didn't lodge it with any deposit scheme - he just set up a separate savings account.
That is steep for a deposit it's never more than one month for me. Thanks for all the replies - If that's the way it is then I'm more than happy to take my deposit back and let the landlord keep his couple of quid interest. He's actually got a few rental properties and was pretty sketchy on how he'd keep the deposit safe. He said he'd registered with the deposit scheme but I had understood that they don't actually hold the funds. I'm almost 100% certain he didn't lodge it with any deposit scheme - he just set up a separate savings account.
Edited by Sushifiend on Friday 20th November 19:49
Deposit protection can be lodged but they don't have to hold any money they simply act as a mediator if the landlord tries to screw you for a new carpet.
Let him keep a few quid interest get your deposit back and move on.
nyt said:
Sushifiend said:
I'm almost 100% certain he didn't lodge it with any deposit scheme - he just set up a separate savings account.
You should have received at least an email from the deposit agency.Edited by Sushifiend on Friday 20th November 19:49
In order to get the deposit back you need to lodge a request which your landlord then approves.
If a scheme wasn't set up within a few weeks of the start of the tenancy then the landlord is liable to quite significant penalties.
I guess there's no real foul if he returns it all but quite a bit of leverage on your part if he tries to withhold anything.
He is taking big risks for little benefit if he didn't set up a scheme.
If you let via an agent they should have made sure that a deposit scheme was set up.
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