Deposit passporting - have your say
Mary-Anne Bowring 11/07/2019
2424
In June, we blogged about the idea of rental deposit passporting. The idea is to make it easier for renters to transfer deposits directly between landlords when moving from one property to the next, Housing Secretary James Brokenshire MP has now announced a Call for Evidence on tenancy deposit protection in England that, among other things, invites views on passporting.
Deposit passporting - what do you think?
The government hopes to get a better understanding of the problems tenants face in providing a second tenancy deposit when moving from one tenancy to the next. It is also searching for ways to speed up the return of deposits to tenants at the end of their contract. The Call for Evidence will look at whether current thinking on making deposits affordable are meeting tenants’ needs and whether the market can offer improved products. The results from the Call for Evidence will help the Tenancy Deposit Protection Working Group. This is looking at whether improvements can be made to deposit protection to the benefit of tenants and landlords. ARLA Propertymark is part of the working group - which has been running for the last 12 months. ARLA supports the idea of moving deposits between tenancies. But it says any solutions that the government comes up with must consider the interests of all parties
“For deposit passporting to work, we need to ensure that both the outgoing landlord’s deposit can be used if needed, while the incoming landlord has certainty they will get the full deposit they have agreed by the tenant,” said ARLA this week. “Affordability for tenants of any bridging loan or insurance policy will be key if deposit passporting is going to be a workable and affordable solution for the future of deposits.” So if you are a landlord, a property manager or a tenant with strong views on how this could work in future, you can download the Call for Evidence and have your say by email to DepositReform@communities.gov.uk or online by 5 September.
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