ONE in four tenants has deductions taken from their deposit when they leave but almost all successfully claim the cash back, a study has found.

The first annual survey of the money deducted by landlords from tenants’ deposits when leases end also found variations in the behaviour of tenants.

It was found Aberdeen tenants are good at paying their rent and looking after the decor, Edinburgh tenants can be trusted not to trash a property’s soft furnishings and Dumfries tenants are worst at paying rent at the end of a lease. 

But in terms of tidiness the worst area in Scotland is Stirling, where more than half of tenancies end with properties needing cleaned.

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The findings are included from SafeDeposits Scotland, a Glasgow-
based organisation and Scotland’s largest tenancy deposit scheme, holding almost 60 per cent of all private rental deposits, worth over £75 million. 

It reviewed a total of 83,812 deposit repayments made over the last year, with a value of £35.6m, and discovered significant differences around Scotland regarding the reasons for deductions being made from deposits. 

Deductions were made from 82 per cent of deposits and of this number 98 per cent returned to tenants without the need to go to adjudication, where deductions had been agreed by landlord and tenant.

Victoria Nixon, operations manager of SafeDeposits Scotland, said: “As we look after the majority of tenancy deposits in Scotland we have a vast amount of data regarding the Scottish private rental sector.

“Looking at how landlords around the country have made deductions gives a fascinating insight into the rental market and, perhaps, the differences between us as Scots.” 

Data was analysed for tenancies in Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Stirling, Glasgow and Dumfries.

Tenants in Dumfries were bottom of the list at looking after the decor of rented properties, with eight per cent of deposits in that area seeing deductions made due to remedial redecoration work. At 1.92 per cent Aberdeen was best.