What is the difference between a deposit, a holding deposit, and rent paid in advance?

Question

I'd like to know in what ways the followings are different: deposit, holding deposit, and rent paid in advance; whether some will usually contain another, and which one one will get back upon termination of the tenancy. What other kinds of expenses should I expect when renting a room/flat in England (agreement charge, etc.)? And lastly, will VAT (17.5%) apply to the whole sum? Thanks very much in advance!

Answer 1

A deposit is paid to cover any cleaning and damages when you move out.

a holding deposit is just that. You pay that for the landlord to hold a place for you when you agree to take it before you are ready to move in.  Most places will not hold for more than a month.  This usually becomes part of your Security Deposit once you actually move in.  if you end up not taking the place, you forfeit this money.

Pre-paid rent is just that. it is held in an account until the upcoming rent is due. Most places will not do this.  We only do this if someone is just starting a job to make sure that the rent is paid until they get settled.

At the end of your lease you will get all deposits back less any cleaning or damages. If there is still any money in the pre-paid rent you should also get that back.

Answer 2

Deposit-  you are taking the place. This is the first money toward the movein.

Holding Deposit-  you might take the place.  This stops it from going to someone else while you decide.

Advance rent is the payment which seals the deal with the 2 parties to the lease.

Answer 3

There are some information pages here and a guide you can download telling you everything you need to know about renting in the UK, there are useful things like how to make sure you get your deposit back when you move out, and whether yours will come under the new deposit protection scheme:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice...

If you use a letting agency some of them charge administrative costs which normally incur VAT, but it should be always made clear whether the price stated is inclusive or exclusive of VAT.  The same applies to rent deposits, I think some landlords need to pay VAT and some don't, but you always ask for it to be made clear whether the VAT is included or not.

Answer 4

having a deposit is giving someone money to have some thing, then when you give that something back you then get the deposit you paid, so if you lose it they keep the money.basically when you hold a deposit you are the other one in the story i just explained. a rent paid in advance is paying a rent for the next two months say, so you do have to pay till the money expires.