Hi there 🙂
I’m currently looking to move and I keep hearing about renting “Deposit Free”. Sounds like a good deal, but I’ve honestly never heard of it and I feel like there’s some caveat that isn’t being mentioned. I found the option through Zoopla and figured I’d put some feelers out for anyone else who has taken this option.
Any advice or information would be appreciated. Thanks! 🙂
2 comments
It’s to be avoided at all costs. You lose all of the legal protections of the independent protection schemes. Most charge a monthly fee for their services (a sunk cost with no return) and charge a fee for bringing any disputes. Their dispute arbitration is not regulated like the recognised schemes. And you have all of the same liability for damage etc as always, except you haven’t put down a lump sum the landlord can draw upon for it so you end up having to pay them at the end for any damage.
Basically, unless you genuinely have zero way of getting the money together for a deposit, they are a total scam.
You can search subreddits like /r/legaladviceUK and /r/HousingUK for key words like ‘zero deposit’ and you’ll see all sorts of horror stories.
its a scam, because you still have to pay a week’s worth of rent and you won’t get it back. That doesnt even count as insurance for breaking stuff so at the end of tenancy you still have to pay out of pocket if you break stuff.
Pay your month’s deposit, make sure its protected, you will get it back 100% at the end of tenancy. End of story.
Make sure to document every little scratch and item thats not conform with the inventory else most landlords will try to fuck you up and take a part of your deposit for “damage / cleaning / etc”.
Also here some link, to avoid being charged crap at the end of tenancy.
https://www.nrla.org.uk/news/wear-and-tear-is-it-fair