When you move out of a rental property when do they give you the money back?

[MovingtoParadise]

There is nothing in the agreement.

Surely most people actually need the money to rent somewhere else etc?

I'm a bit worried they will hand onto it for a couple of weeks.

[LateDad]

If you paid a deposit under an assured shorthold tenancy, then yes they do.

If you mean the rent, then no they don't.

But I am Not A Lawyer

[tissuesosoft]

Usually if deposits are in a protected scheme you get it back within a couple of weeks of vacating the property (minus any deductions for damages from the checkout inventory)

[LateDad]

Sorry misread ... when not if ...

It's ten days

www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection/overview

[AnarchyKitty]

We had to wait 3 months with one landlord as they tried to lie on release. The agent that came out to inspect the property was gobsmacked that we had left the property in a better state than we moved in. Thankfully we had photos and an inventory from when we moved in.
Our last landlord released the funds the evening we moved out as he was delighted with the house.
So it's hard to say, it all depends on the whims of the landlord it seems!
The deposit won't be before you move though.

[JustMumNowNotMe]

I think its 10 days, but longer if the landlord raises a dispute.

[JustMumNowNotMe]

Oh x-post LateDad

[MovingtoParadise]

Sorry, yes the deposit. It's a huge sum of money and is exactly the amount we are overdrawn by

The house is in a better condition than when we moved in. We had to pay for professional cleaners yesterday and it's very clean.

However the house is in very poor (documented) condition. Wallpaper come away from the wall due to damp and mould.

I don't expect them to fight over deductions.

Ten days is a looooong time. God.

[Needmoresleep]

10 days is the maximum. It is just a deadline by which the landlord has to respond by. Unfortunately if they demand too much and you object you end up in dispute which takes months.

Your best bet is to ask them nicely if they can release the deposit as quickly as possible.

Was there an inventory taken when you moved in? And when you moved out? If one is missing and the landlord is playing hardball, you might point out that in a dispute it is for the landlord to prove that the place is in a worse condition than when you moved in. Trouble is that the new legislation, designed to protect tenants, can do precisely the opposite for good tenants. You may be entitled to all your money back but if the landlord decides to have a go and get some of it, you end up waiting months for the arbitration process to end. And have to fill in long forms rebutting what they accuse you of.

[rallytog1]

Yes, we fall until that category Need. The inventory clerk said we'd left the property in better condition than we found it (it was filthy and unsafe when we moved in) but we are currently in a dispute with the landlord for the full value of the deposit. Their claim is spurious and ignores the check in and check out, but we're having to spend hours rebutting their unsubstantiated claims. I know we should get our money back eventually but I'm worried that because the landlord has claimed so much, the adjudicator will let something stick.

We moved out at the end of Feb. It's likely to be the end of May before we see a penny. The system really has not been thought through.