40% of tenants are signing up to deposits alternative, claims leading SW estate agency
Webbers has been offering Reposit's product to new tenants within its 1,000-property portfolio since the beginning of May.
Leading SW estate agency Webbers has claimed that 40% of its new tenants have signed up to use a tenancy deposits alternative since it introduced the option last month.
The agency has 16 branches across North Cornwall, Devon, Exmoor and Somerset and manages 1,000 properties.
Since the beginning of May the Barnstaple-based estate agency has been offering the insurance-based deposits alternative product supplied by Reposit to all new tenants moving into it properties, which offers landlords cover to the value of eight weeks’ rent.
Webbers says the average rent for its properties is approximately £750 a month and therefore, since the tenant fees ban limited deposits to five weeks’ rent, tenants normally pay a cash deposit of £1,000.
The Reposit scheme bills tenants a one-off service charge of one weeks’ rent of between £180 and £200 to join its insurance scheme that covers the landlord should the tenant fail to pay their rent or damage the property during the tenancy.
“We are happy that we can improve our service by introducing Reposit to our customers,” says Lawrence Williams, Head of Lettings at Webbers (left).
“We had long discussions and reviewed everything thoroughly, but what really stood out to us was Reposit’s eight week cover. We can see how the world of letting is changing and Reposit is a great choice to make available to our tenants.”
Reposit was the first to set up in 2015 and is both regulated by the FCA and covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. It offers participating agencies a percentage of the tenant’s service charge as a referral fee. Earlier this month Repost signed up another leading independent estate agency, Pattinsons.
