Oxford has been dubbed the UK’s capital for trouble with tenancy deposits in the UK.
Moving platform Getamover.co.uk analysed Google search data over the past year for 519 search terms related to deposits and deposit protection schemes in 78 areas of the UK.
These search terms included terms like ‘tenancy deposit scheme’, ‘deposit refund process’, and ‘deposit protection scheme’.
Oxford topped the list of the UK areas searching most for deposit-related topics, with an average of 590 searches per 100,000 residents. This is 71% greater than the average across all UK areas (344 searches per 100,000 residents).
‘Tenancy deposit scheme’ was the most searched term in Oxford, as it was across 77 of the 78 analysed UK areas. Plymouth was the only exception, which searched ‘deposit protection scheme’ the most. In Oxford, the other most searched terms included ‘deposit protection scheme’ and ‘my deposit’.
Salford was second, with 552 average monthly searches related to deposits per 100,000 residents, which is 60% above the average for UK areas. Salford’s top three search terms were ‘tenancy deposit scheme’, ‘deposit protection scheme’, and ‘my deposit’.
Bournemouth ranked third, with 544 average monthly searches per 100,000 residents for deposit-related topics, 58% above the national average of 344 searches per 100,000.
Reading was fourth, with an average of 517 monthly searches per 100,000 residents, 50% above the UK average.
In fifth was Leeds, with 510 monthly searches related to deposit protection schemes per 100,000 residents.
Bristol was sixth, with 505 searches per 100,000 residents. Manchester (499 searches per 100,000), Hove (491 searches per 100,000), Newcastle (483 searches per 100,000), and Plymouth (445 searches per 100,000) completed the top 10.
David Burrows, head of Getamover.co.uk, said: “Deposits can be a sensitive topic at the best of times and can lead to significant stress if things go wrong. From saving for a deposit to settling it at the end of a tenancy, many parts of the process can cause conflict.
“To reduce risk for both landlords and tenants, there are government-mandated tenancy deposit protection schemes that hold deposits until the end of a tenancy. Landlords are required to submit deposits within 30 days of receipt, and the funds are held until an agreement on the return amount is reached. Landlords then must return any agreed-upon amount within 10 days.
“We wanted to see if we could identify where in the UK was having the most trouble with deposits and deposit schemes, and found Oxford ranked top. While it may seem that student populations drive this trend, many areas with large student populations, such as Cambridge, are among the lowest in the rankings. Therefore, the question remains as to what drives these deposit-related searches the most.”
