3rd
Nov 2017
A lettings agency chief claims that from investigations into prosecutions of rogue landlords and lettings agents for stealing tenant's deposits, nearly £850,000 worth of deposits had been stolen since the beginning of this year.
Ajay Jagota, the chief of the company who actively fights for the abolition of deposits, states that up to the end of September 2017 the amount of deposits stolen by criminal landlords and lettings agents was a staggering £847, 227, and when compared to the number of convictions is the equivalent of £44,591 per case.
Up to now more than 25 rogue landlords and letting agents have been successfully prosecuted and found guilty of stealing deposits for rental properties.
Jagota's deposit replacement insurance firm carried out investigations for last year and discovered that just over £1,018,100 of deposits went 'missing'. During 2016 there was at least one conviction of a landlord or letting agent found guilty of stealing deposits each month and from figures so far, it looks like 2017's thefts of deposits will be significantly higher.
Jagota believes that deposits are not really necessary and said: "Not only do deposits drive up the cost of renting – hurting landlords as much as anyone by making it harder to find tenants while providing feeble protection against unpaid rent or property damage – they make criminal behaviour easy. They hurt letting agents too, leaving them vulnerable to the huge reputational damage of convictions like this or exposing them to potentially bankrupting losses and costs. As I’ve said time and time again, the very worst part of this is that these figures don’t even start to show the true scale of deposits being misused, misplaced, misappropriated or plainly and simply stolen."
Richard Merrick of PIMS, said: "This viewpoint seems to be slightly naive as deposits do offer a sufficient form of protection to all parties and for this reason I cannot see them ever being abolished."
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