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Landlord associations issue angry joint statement over lower security deposits cap

NLA and RLA say reducing deposit cap to five weeks' rent will damage market.

Nigel Lewis

security deposits

The UK’s two largest landlord associations have joined forces to condemn the government’s apparent decision to reduce the rental deposit cap from six to five weeks.

In an unusual show of unity both the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) and the National Landlords Association (NLA) have issued a joint statement heavily criticising the decision.

Both claim reducing the cap on security deposits will make it harder to secure a tenancy for many renters because it will force more landlords out of the buy-to-let market and push rents up.

The statement is in reaction to news broken in The Sun over the weekend that chancellor Phillip Hammond had lost a political battle with James Brokenshire to keep the cap at six weeks, although the government has not confirmed the decision.

Security deposits

“If this is true, landlords will feel badly let down by a Government which says it wants to support good landlords,” says David Smith, Policy Director at the RLA (above, left).

“The Government had accepted that a cap of six weeks was the minimum many landlords required. This is needed to address the problem of tenants who fail to pay the last month’s rent and leave a property damaged.”

Richard Lambert, CEO of the NLA (above, right), says: “A six-week cap is the lowest landlords find acceptable. Does the Government really not realise that if landlords don’t think the deposit covers the risk of damage or unpaid rent, they will be even more cautious about who they let to?

“All this will do is make it harder for tenants with poor credit ratings or who want to have a pet to find a suitable home. This is clearly a political move aimed at the renters’ vote. It is not a policy for business.”

 

December 4, 2018

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