Tenancy Deposit

[sussexlady]

In April 2010 my husband and I moved into a rented house. The rent was £ 950.00 a month and still is, great Landlord we are very lucky, and the deposit was £1850.00. It was put in a TDS by his letting agent.

I know a couple of years ago the law changed so that the maximum deposit that could be asked for was changed to a maximum of 5 weeks rent. If I was starting this tenancy now our deposit would be a maximum of £ 1096.15. Our deposit is a lot more - £ 754.00 more than can be asked for today. I didn't think about it at the time

Does this maximum deposit figure only apply to new tenancies starting after this law started a couple of years ago or does it cover my deposit which I paid in 2010? Could I ask for the £754.15 to be refunded?

Times as they are now this is quite a lot of money which would be useful to us. As I said great Landlord we have always paid the rent on time no problems at all with him or Agent over our 11 year tenancy and we have no plans to move out.

I want to check my position is before I contact the Letting Agents. If it definitely can't be done I will I won't be asking

Only applies to new tenancies from 1 June 2019, it can't be applied retrospectively. The only way to change it would be to start a new tenancy with your landlord which would probably entail a fixed 12 months before becoming a monthly one again.

www.depositprotection.com/news/latest-news/2019/the-tenant-fees-act-and-tenancy-deposit-cap/

However if everything else is good with your landlord I would urge caution. If you ask for a new tenancy agreement they may see it as the perfect time to put the rent up - a rise of £15/week would wipe out the value of the 'extra' deposit!

In addition to the above they may also see your asking for £700 as a sign of financial distress and look to find a new tenant.

Hmm, we moved in in 2015 and paid 6 weeks and a cat damage deposit, and in 2019 (we've been on year length contracts, keep renewing) the landlady contacted us to return a week and the cat deposit, I was surprised, tbh, but it did come in handy. But I do think I would have been hesitant to ask for the reasons stated above, as long as it is ringfenced in a proper scheme you will get it eventually.

Thank you both for your replies. Very helpful and exactly what I was thinking I just wanted to be sure. I didn't want to rock the boat I know we are very lucky

Letting Agent has suggested to Landlord several times he should put the rent up and he hasn't he told us he prefers steady trouble free tenants and that is what we are?

Once again thank you both for you help

Our letting agent keeps trying that with our landlady (who I get on with pretty well) and luckily like yours she has a longer term perspective. He sounds like a good landlord, so it will all come out in the wash as and when you do move.

I can't quite remember exactly as we had a change of tenant around that time anyway but I have a vague recollection of the law requiring any monies over the 5 weeks to be refunded. It's worth double checking, like I say I could have imagined that - let's just say my memory isn't quite what it used to be.

I totally get where you are coming from. It is a lot of money. However I wouldn't risk rocking a very steady boat!

It does apply to tenancies fr June 2019 so if you signed a new agreement from June 2019 onwards then legally LL needs to refund the difference. If you are on a rolling/periodic agreement then the deposit cap does not apply

The difference in ours was returned, think it was about £150 so not much but the letting agent said they had to return it.

My experience with letting agents is that they are not always up to speed with changes in legislation, to they interpret it wrongly!

And yes, it is in their best interests to see the rent rise, assuming they bill as a % of the rent!
Seriously OP, I'd steer well clear and find some other way to find/ raise £700!

I don’t think there would be any problem asking. As long as you do it politely and as a request not a demand. He’s a decent landlord and I don’t see why he would mind.