Increase rent – Increase Bond?
If I raise the rent to match (or be slightly under) the LHA rate, what about the Bond secured as a deposit?
The Bond at the time was for the 5 weeks max rent, so do I ask for an increase to match the rent increase?
Bit of a dilemma even if benefits pay the rent increase. The Bond is organised with the council and the tenant and agreement is that they will pay the Bond back to the Council over two years.
Does that mean the Bond is simply increased, then the Council add that extra to the Bond for the tenant to pay back??
Anyone had any experience of this before?
Many thanks
Reluctant Landlord
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Member Since April 2020 - Comments: 14
11:07 PM, 2nd June 2020, About 6 years ago
Re OP- When a tenant receives a bond as a replacement for the deposit, in my experience these only last for 6 months and do not carry forward and are not renewed. The purpose of offering these to the tenant is purely to facilitate the tenant into accomodation, the council or other provider of the bond is not interested in the longer term and the landlord’s liabilities and protections. As usual short sightedness but at least it helps at the start. Trouble is they don’t explain this to either the tenant or the landlord.
When I found this out (about 5mnths into his initial 6mnth AST) I explained to my tenant and we came to a payment plan arrangement of an additional £50/mnth for 10 months and then we deposited that at the DPS. Our tenant now has a nice savings and deposit and we have proper protection. I hope this helps. Regards, Nathan
Member Since February 2020 - Comments: 20
6:08 PM, 19th June 2020, About 6 years ago
My last tenant had a 12 month bond (supposed to save to replace it in 12 months). She left at 11 months with lots of damage and I called the bond in.
I would be tempted to leave the arrangement as is currently, but start your tenant thinking about adding a rent top up to exchange bond for deposit ready for when the bond runs out.