Close to half of private renters would like to see tenant deposits scrapped and replaced with deposit protection insurance, according to a YouGov survey.
The research found that 43% of renters would prefer to rent deposit-free with deposit protection insurance as an alternative to a traditional deposit, which looks set to be capped at the equivalent of six weeks’ rent by the government, as part of the Tenant Fees Bill.
A deposit-free insurance policy, which pays for any damages to the property at the end of a tenancy, provides an alternative to paying a large sum upfront, with tenants typically required to pay into it either through a one-off payment, such as a week’s rent, or a monthly fee.
“Currently many people are simply unable to enter the rental market due to the need for a large upfront deposit to be provided before they move in,” said Professor Brian Sturgess, author of ‘Down with Deposits’.
Robert Colvile, director of the Centre for Policy Studies, is calling on the government to get behind zero deposit renting in order to “rectify an unfair system which polling shows is unpopular with hard-pressed tenants”.
He commented: “By endorsing an insurance-based model as an alternative to a rental deposit, the government would rectify an unfair system which polling shows is unpopular with hard-pressed tenants.”
Despite growing enthusiasm for deposit-free renting, a high number of tenants – and landlords – are not in favour of seeing traditional tenant deposits replaced with deposit protection insurance.
Dan Wilson Craw, director of Generation Rent, pointed out that tenants who do not make a claim at the end of a tenancy will effectively lose any money paid to the insurer.
He said: “The tenancy deposit is a significant sum of money to find before you can move into a new home, and the system sorely needs to be made more affordable.
“Unfortunately proposals to replace it with an insurance policy will make participating tenants worse off, because they get nothing back when they move out.
“Even if you borrowed the money for a deposit and paid it off over a few months, the interest involved would still be less than the premium you'd pay for deposit replacement insurance.”
He added: “Instead of introducing a new poverty premium, we should make the existing system better by finding ways to allow payment by instalments, investing deposits so that tenants get a decent return on their money, and passporting them between tenancies.”
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If less than half the people polled (43%) are interested in this why would any organisation be pushing for it??? Same old rubbish, people plucking things out of thin air. If a tenant has paid a deposit they are likely to take better care of the property they are renting. How many people were surveyed? How was the survey done? These figures are constantly bandied around with no substance.
Once the tenancy starts, who would ensure that insurance premium is paid when the rental payments are not coming/ runs into arrears!
can't see it working, would the insurance pay out, doubtful, would the tenant keep up with the premiums, in many cases they would not, and as for paying a deposit in installments to the landlord , no, i once had a chap want to do this, needless to say i did not rent the property to him.
Deposits also show some commitment from the tenant, I’m sure most tenants would love to have no deposit paid but it affords some protection to landlords.
The insurance scheme sounds like a mess waiting to happen.
Oh what a surprise tenants don’t fancy paying a deposit! .. maybe poll landlords and see what they think as the deposit is for them not the tenant
Why not go the whole hog and suggest rent free properties? Wait a minute..... With housing benefits and not criminalalising rent dodging, rent free properties are already a reality in modern Britain!
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