Deposit alternative company, flatfair, says agents could save tenants on average, £1,000, on their upfront move-in costs by offering them the choice of flatfair No Deposit.
CEO Gary Wright is asking agents to consider giving a helping hand to hard-pressed prospective renters by offering their No Deposit option alongside traditional cash deposits.
Wright said: “Everyone has suffered during the cost-of-living crisis – including landlords and tenants.”
“Overall, flatfair tenants have saved over £40 million in upfront move-in costs by opting for our lower upfront deposit costs of one-week’s rent +VAT as opposed to the standard five-week traditional deposit. By doing this, our tenants save, on average, £1,000 on their upfront move-in costs.”
Offering them the choice
Rental costs increased massively in 2023 – up 7.5% according to the Homelet Rental Index – and they are due to continue rising in 2024. Which means the cost of deposits have risen too.
And despite inflation dipping to 3.4% in February, this is from a peak of 11.1% in 2022 and prices are still rising.
Last month, digital mortgage lender, Molo, revealed that nearly 60% of UK landlords have seen a rise in late rental payments, with average arrears amounting to £723. “The maths is simple,” said Wright.
“The average number of arrears would be more than wiped out by the average saving of using our deposit alternative. It gives tenants a real cash boost at the start of a tenancy – at a time when moving costs are mounting up. flatfair’s deposit alternative also provides landlords with market-leading protection of up to 10 weeks – double that of a traditional deposit.”
“As a company, we manage both traditional deposits and our deposit alternative. But when times are hard, as they are now, and everyone is less financially resilient, we think agents might welcome the opportunity to make life a little easier for their tenants by offering them the choice to reduce their upfront costs. Especially when there is no cost to them.”
Helping others
“We are happy to manage all deposit options, but when 1 in 3 tenants are spending more than half their salary on rent, everyone should try to support tenants where possible.”
“No Deposit is good for both tenants and landlords – it’s a ‘win-win,’ and we hope for everyone in the industry to see the advantages of helping others at no cost or risk to themselves.”
Last summer, flatfair announced that it had integrated with The DPS, meaning they now partner with all UK deposit schemes, so their flatfair Deposits platform can automate the traditional deposit process too, saving agents valuable time.
These integrations allow agents who partner with flatfair to offer traditional deposits alongside flatfair’s deposit alternative, so they can make a decision on what best suits their individual needs.
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