Tenants in south-east 'more likely to cause damage' - buy to let mortgages

14 January 2009

The south-east is the worst-affected region for tenants damaging rental property, new figures have revealed.

More than 40 per cent of disputes overseen by the Deposit Protection Service (DPS) have occurred in the south-east, with London being identified as the worst city for this.

The research compiled by DPS discovered that 52 per cent of the disputes in the south-east were caused by damage to a property, while 36 per cent were due to homes not being cleaned.

Bristol, Manchester, Newcastle and York were all named as some of the most-affected cities for tenant damage.

DPS director Kevin Firth said that "exasperated" landlords were contacting the organisation about a range of complaints, adding that the service offered by the body can benefit those with buy to let mortgages.

"The introduction of a dispute resolution service has been one of the real successes of the government's tenancy deposit legislation," he remarked.

Meanwhile, the National Landlords' Association has revealed that more tenants are seeking energy-efficient properties.