Deposit cap length extended to six weeks' rent

The details were included in the publication of the draft Tenant’s Fees Bill. The Government first announced that they would introduce a cap on security deposits along with a ban on charging tenants fees almost 12 months ago, in the Autumn Statement 2016.

Initially the cap on security deposits was to be set at no more than four weeks’ rent. However, the Government now proposes to extend the cap to six weeks’ rent after concerted lobbying from the National Landlords Association (NLA).

Chris Norris, Head of Policy at the NLA, said:

“At the time the NLA argued that an arbitrary cap of four weeks’ rent would be damaging to certain groups of prospective tenants and could have the counter-productive effect of making it harder for some households to secure suitable accommodation in the sector.

“Since the plans were announced we have been lobbying the Government and we met with the Minister of State for Housing and Planning, Alok Sharma MP, in September in order to press him to rethink his plans for a cap; taking into account the needs of those living and working in the private rented sector.

“The NLA is happy that the Government has listened to the evidence we presented on behalf of our members. Whilst we remain disappointed that the Government continues to believe a cap is necessary, extending it to 6 weeks rent will reduce those households and landlords disadvantaged by the policy significantly.”

Click here for more information about the draft Tenant's Fees Bill.

For more information, visit www.landlords.org.uk