Information for tenants

Bonds, charges & rents

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Bonds

From 6th April 2007 when you pay a bond (also known as deposit) for an assured short hold tenancy the landlord or Letting Agent must protect your bond through a Government-backed tenancy deposit scheme.
There are two choices of schemes, one custodial and one insurance-based. It will be up to your landlord or agent to decide what scheme to use. They must then provide certain information to you within 14 days of the day when you paid your deposit. This is called prescribed information and can either be incorporated into your tenancy agreement or given to you separately and includes:

Which tenancy deposit scheme they are using and the contact details for the scheme
Information about the purpose of the deposit
The landlord or agent's contact details
How you can apply to get the deposit back at the end of the tenancy
What you can do if there is a dispute about the deposit.

If your landlord or agent hasn't protected your deposit and provided the required information within 14 days, the you can apply to the county court for an order that the landlord or agent should pay the deposit back to you, or protect it in one of the tenancy deposit protection schemes. The court will also order the landlord or agent to pay you compensation equivalent to three times the value of the deposit you paid.
In addition, if your landlord or agent hasn't protected your deposit and provided the required information within 14 days, then there are restrictions on how they can evict you. Normally landlords of assured short hold tenants can evict a tenant by giving a minimum of two months notice under a Section 21 and then getting a court order without having to show a reason. However, if your landlord or agent has not protected your deposit and provided the prescribed information within 14 days, then they cannot use the Section 21 to evict you.
When you leave, if you and your landlord or agent both agree on how much of the deposit you should get back, you should get it back within 10 days of agreeing.
If your deposit was held in a custodial scheme, you will also receive some interest on the deposit. The custodial scheme will repay tenants direct, either by cheque or by electronic transfer. Deposits held in the insurance-based scheme will be repaid by the landlord either in cash or by cheque, as they choose, however, there will not be any interest passed onto the tenant from this scheme.
Your landlord or agent is only entitled to keep all or part of your deposit if they can show that they have lost out financially because of your actions, for example, if you have caused damage to the property or if you owe rent. Ask your landlord or agent for a breakdown of the specific costs that they are taking out of your deposit. Your landlord or agent cannot keep your deposit to cover putting right normal wear and tear.
If you don't agree that your landlord or agent should have kept all or part of your deposit, or you disagree with some of the costs that they have taken out of it, then the tenancy deposit protection scheme which your landlord has used will offer a free service to help resolve disputes. Information on what you need to do if there is a dispute will be contained in the prescribed information. Each scheme offers an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) service. When a dispute occurs, and if you and your landlord both agree to use the service, you will have to agree to accept its decision and will not be able to apply to the courts. If you or your landlord do not agree to use the ADR service then the dispute will usually go to the county court.

Admin Fee

Some landlords ask for an admin fee to cover such items as vetting, preparing the tenancy agreement and inventory etc. This is different to a bond in the fact that it does not have to be protected.
An admin fee is non refundable at the end of the tenancy.
Tenants are entitled to a breakdown of what they are being charged for should a landlord request an admin fee.

Holding Fee

If a landlord asks for a holding fee, this is normally to hold the property for you, and not show other prospective tenants around, while referencing checks etc. are carried out. If the landlord does not rent out the property to you, then this fee must be returned to you.
If, however, he does not rent out the property to you then this holding fee becomes part or all of your bond and must be protected.

Rent

You should agree with the landlord the rent and arrangements for paying it before the tenancy begins. The details of your rent should be included in the tenancy agreement. If the tenancy is for a fixed term, the agreement should say either that the rent will be fixed for the length of the term or that it will be reviewed at regular intervals. During the fixed term the landlord can only raise the rent if you agree. If you do not agree he will have to wait until the fixed term ends before the rent can be raised.
A landlord must give at least a month's notice of the increase if the rent is paid on a monthly basis or a week's notice if paid weekly.
The landlord is only legally obliged to provide a rent book if the rent is payable on a weekly basis but it is a good idea to ask for a receipt for any rent paid which is not being entered into a rent book as this can avoid disputes later.
You are responsible for the amount of rent as stated on the tenancy agreement, therefore if you received any housing benefit and this does not cover the amount of your weekly or monthly rent, it is your responsibility to make up this shortfall of payment.
It is imperative that you pay your rent on time and discuss with your landlord immediately should you get into any difficulties doing so as your landlord can seek possession of the property with a two week notice should you be eight weeks rent in arrears.

Information for tenants

Bonds, charges & rents

MAKE SURE YOU RECEIVE A RECEIPT FOR ANY MONIES YOU PAY TO A LANDLORD