Britain’s broken rental deposit scheme is causing misery for thousands, we reveal in new research today. Our guest author, who wishes to remain anonymous, shares their experience…
The UK’s rental deposit system is broken and causing havoc for thousands, Which?’s new report revealed today – and it’s findings are something I can associate with.
The research shows that 43% of renters have to use a credit card, loan or overdraft, or borrow money from family and friends, to cover the cost of moving into a property.
And nearly a third of people moving to a new property had to pay a whole new deposit before receiving the previous one back.
Housing horror
I’m just one of thousands whose landlord failed to protect their deposit.
When we left the house we rented, our landlord tried to withhold most of our deposit, on the spurious grounds that it was for “repairs” to damage we had caused.
She tried to charge us multiple times for the same things, e.g. a window that wasn’t even damaged; for ’emptying a compost bin’ that was actually hers and had been there when we first arrived.
The house was flood prone when there was heavy rain and a pool of water would collect under the floorboards in one room when the weather was bad; none of this was told to us before we moved in.
The landlord did not respect our privacy, entered the house when we were out, dug up plants we had put in, pulled up and threw away and broke solar lamps we had installed in the garden.
Landlord liberties
She tried to charge us rent on land which did not belong to her and which we had the owner’s permission to use for vegetables.
The landlord left us for six weeks in the winter without heating or hot water when the boiler failed, because she would only use a specific plumber and he was unavailable.
This all meant I became stressed and developed high blood pressure, which led to an aortic aneurysm.
I had to have major heart surgery just as we were due to move out of the place. Then I had nowhere to go from the hospital. I had to get a room in the local pub so as to be near the GP.
All in all, our renting experience was an unmitigated horror story.
This is a guest post by an anonymous writer. All views expressed are their own and not necessarily those also shared by Which?.
Are you a renter? Do you have a renting horror story? Share your thoughts below but if you’d prefer to share them privately, head over to our #rentrage campaign.
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