porca misèria Report post Posted April 2, 2011 When your income is irregular, it is (or was) traditional to offer six months rent up front. This could be coupled with haggling on the amount of the monthly rent. But these days it incurs additional risks if the landlord turns out to be a dodgy chancer. As an alternative, I have wondered about offering a very large deposit - say £10k or even £20k - to be protected by the TDS. That would of course be accompanied by haggling on the rent, but it offers a landlord an attractive zero credit risk. Given the protection of the TDS, is there anything wrong with that idea? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
efdemin Report post Posted April 2, 2011 Doesn't the LL pay in the money to the TDS? If so there's no real change as they could still do a runner with your money. There's also the lost interest / investment return on that money that you have so kindly gifted to the TDS company. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
porca misèria Report post Posted April 2, 2011 Doesn't the LL pay in the money to the TDS? If so there's no real change as they could still do a runner with your money. There's also the lost interest / investment return on that money that you have so kindly gifted to the TDS company. The idea is to pay by cheque, ask immediately for TDS details, and be in time to bounce the cheque if the TDS details aren't forthcoming within the two(?) weeks. The interest/investment return features prominently in my haggling on the rent! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MacGuffin Report post Posted April 2, 2011 When your income is irregular, it is (or was) traditional to offer six months rent up front. This could be coupled with haggling on the amount of the monthly rent. But these days it incurs additional risks if the landlord turns out to be a dodgy chancer. As an alternative, I have wondered about offering a very large deposit - say £10k or even £20k - to be protected by the TDS. That would of course be accompanied by haggling on the rent, but it offers a landlord an attractive zero credit risk. Given the protection of the TDS, is there anything wrong with that idea? I could probably think of a long list of reasons why this is not a good idea, but one that immediately comes to mind is that the tenancy deposit is not meant to cover unpaid rent. So, a landlord that knows his stuff (which dodgy landlords tend not to know, admittedly) would quite rightly point out that a huge deposit does not offer him any guarantee that you will pay your rent. However, for a landlord who is not particularly clued up on the TDS legislation, a huge deposit may be persuasive. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
