0 deposit tenancies with reposit.co.uk

[sijfish]

Anyone heard of this? I spotted it on a listing recently.

From what I can gather it seems like an insurance based alternative to taking a 6 week deposit, where the tenant pays a non-refundable 1 week rent (insurance premium), in return for not having to put down a refundable (at risk) 6 week deposit. Meanwhile the landlord gets free rental/damage insurance cover for up to 8 weeks rent (where they previously only had 6 weeks and had to deal with deposit protection and arbitration etc.), and the agent takes a commission. In the event of a claim the company takes the role of final arbiter between tenant and landlord at no expense to the landlord.

Sounds rational, assuming the economics of the business model are sustainable and you trust the claim/arbitration process. I’ve not gotten as far as reading the T’s and C’s. Anyone else come across this?

https://reposit.co.uk/letting-agents/

[DezzaT]

£0 deposit options started popping up last year. The Property Tribes forum has quite a few threads about the pros/cons of it, including this one which has a video of it. Hopefully it provides a bit more info for you.

[sijfish]

Thanks Derek, interesting read. Would be interested to hear stories of the claim and arbitration process. Haven't seen any yet...

[Julia Urquhart]

These schemes are marketed to tenants as 'you don't need to find a deposit - so that's great - but the truth is they will make renting more expensive. The tenant pays for the policy either up front or monthly, money which they never get back. In addition, if the LL makes a claim when they leave the tenant will still have to pay.

In a nutshell - good for LL (subject to dispute resolution being reliable) - bad news for tenants.

Better really for a tenant to borrow the money for a deposit and as a LL, do you really want a tenant who cannot afford the deposit as well as the rent? Portable deposits are a much better idea - when they work out how to make them work!

[paulrybak]

As a landlord I don't like these. I feel they are being pushed too heavily by the agents (to gain commission). They are more expensive for the tenant in the long term. Worryingly I believe I have found a loophole with the biggest zero deposit provider. They couldn't give me a satisfactory answer to my questions on this so I now avoid. 

I believe that deposits are an important way of having tenant commitment.

[helen_court66_gmail_com]

Thanks for the comments above. My agent has just asked if we want to offer a Reposit scheme on one of my properties that is just being advertised. As they are telling me that there is already a lot of interest in the property and is targeted at tenants who can afford a deposit, plus reading views above, I am going to say no.