Blog
How safe is your deposit?
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
In 2016, unscrupulous letting agents raided over £1m from tenants’ deposits, a BBC investigation has alleged; 14 letting agents were convicted of stealing £1,018,100 in deposits last year. So how do you make sure your deposit is safe? Firstly make sure you use an ARLA propertymark agency like The Frost Partnership. Whether you are a tenant or a landlord there are clear benefits in doing so.
The Frost Partnership registers all deposits held on behalf of tenancy agreements with the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS). This protects both the tenant's deposit and the landlord's property for the duration of a lease term. We also use an independent referencing process to check potential tenants are suitable and, whichever level of service a landlord chooses, we offer a full 12 month rent guarantee and legal protection plan free of charge, something you are unlikely to find with most local lettings agents. So landlords know that their rental income is guaranteed, regardless (just one month excess is payable).
With Frosts, you’ll have trained agents on hand with up to date practical advice and professional guidance. We adhere to the Code of Practice and Rules of Conduct laid down by ARLA and provide the highest standards of professional service throughout the letting and management of a property. If you instruct Frosts to let your property, your money is protected by ARLA’s Client Money Protection Scheme, your agent has Professional Indemnity Insurance and you can redress the situation through ARLA in the event that should something go wrong.
Membership of ARLA is achieved only by agents who demonstrate a thorough knowledge of their profession and conduct their business according to current best management practice. Chris Cotton, Lettings Manager for Middlesex explains, “We’re an independent family owned network with commitment to quality service. In-depth local market knowledge and an extensive database of quality tenants allows us to achieve the best rental figure for our landlords, whilst our local presence means we are there when tenants need us too.”
For a free, no obligation market appraisal and details of our stress free lettings service, please call your local Frost office or read testimonials from our relaxed, happy clients.
