More and more tenants are turning to the Bank of Mum and Dad as well as their savings pots to help with spiralling rental costs, latest research from Zero Deposit reveals.

The cost of renting and the resulting deposit required to secure a rental property – often set at five weeks asking rent – ranked as the biggest issue for almost half of tenants (49%) when searching for their most recent rental property.

ADDITIONAL HELP

When it came to the upfront cost of a rental deposit just more than half (54%) stated that they had to dip into their savings in order to cover the cost while almost half (46%) required additional financial help.

Some 15% had to rely on the Bank of Mum and Dad while 11% were forced to wait for their previous rental deposit to be returned from their letting agent or landlord. Others turned to loans (6%), credit cards (5%), overdrafts (5%) and even sold personal items to raise the funds (4%).

Sam Reynolds, Chief Executive of Zero Deposit, says: “The rental market is an extremely tough place to be with tenants facing the worst affordability crisis in the last decade.”

DRIVING FACTOR

“The high cost of an upfront rental deposit is the driving factor that prevents many tenants from securing their desired rental property.

“While some are lucky enough to rely on savings or the Bank of Mum and Dad, others are putting themselves in further debt at a time when the cost of borrowing has grown considerably.

“Many more are often left waiting for a previous deposit to be returned which can considerably delay their onward move.

“This compromise often comes in the form of settling for a much smaller property than they would have otherwise liked, either due to stock availability, or in an attempt to cut costs.”