Staggered Deposit Protection

[swinefever]

Hi all,

In the hypothetical situation where a new tenant (in an AST) wishes to pay a proportion of the deposit each month over the first few months;

-Would each instalment have to be protected as a seperate deposit, or would the deposit only become into being when the instalments reach the stated deposit value?

E.g. 10 month AST, with a deposit of £500 required. Tenant pays £100 a month for five months (in addition to the rent). Would each £100 be regarded as an individual deposit or would it only need to be protected after the five months (when the amount is £500)?

-If such an agreement was to be incorporated into a tenancy, would the landlord have any rights other than Small Claims, should the tenant stop paying the deposit payment? Since it would be regarded as a Deposit payment and not Rent, i'm presuming non-payment cannot be considered as rent arrears?

Just a thought swirling in my mind,

Swine

[Sportingdad]

In this "hypothetical situation" I would consider the Landlord to be mad, so you are going to hand over a say £100,000 property to someone who does not have a full deposit but is going to pay you on a promise, In the real world would you hire your £10,000 car to someone for £50 a month and only £50 deposit or in proportion £10 a month for 5 months.......clearly not...If you have a decent clean property at the correct rent charge six weeks deposit..if you have a threadbare carpet and are charging over the top it places you to do desperate act's.....i'm not your mother but

[pcwilkins]

Would each £100 be regarded as an individual deposit or would it only need to be protected after the five months (when the amount is £500)?

Each £100 is an individual deposit and must be protected within 14 days.


If such an agreement was to be incorporated into a tenancy, would the landlord have any rights other than Small Claims, should the tenant stop paying the deposit payment?

I doubt it.


Since it would be regarded as a Deposit payment and not Rent, i'm presuming non-payment cannot be considered as rent arrears?

You are right --- it isn't rent, so would not be rent arrears.


Just a thought swirling in my mind

I should remove it from your mind as soon as possible, it sounds like a potential headache.

Why not just increase the rent and not take a deposit?

Have to agree with sportingdad.

Peter

[swinefever]

Hi you two, it wasn't something i planned to do, just a scenario i was talking to someone about when discussing deposit protection schemes! Your arguments were exactly what i already thought but i just wanted to make sure.

Cheers,

Swine