May

Channel 4 investigates Cardiff property management firm over rental deposits

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Comedian Joe Lycett claims 30 student tenants had excessive deductions made from their rental deposits, but company involved denies any wrongdoing.

A property management
company and a Channel 4 TV show have crossed swords over the firm’s handling of
rental deposits belonging to dozens of students in Cardiff.

The show, Joe Lycett’s
Got Your Back, is front by comedian Joe Lycett who spent an hour shining a light on
property management firm CPS Homes.

The company was criticised by student tenants in the city for deducting hundreds of pounds from their deposits for alleged damage. It’s now facing a Trading Standards investigation.

Two Cardiff students, Lucy and Lizzy (pictured), told Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back they’d paid £2,380 in rental deposits to CPS during their second year of university, and when they moved out, they were charged for general wear and tear as well as damages they say they didn’t cause.

In total, they and their housemates were charged with 21 essential repairs adding up to £843. The students were told they would get none of their money back until they agreed to these deductions.

Stained mattresss

Lycett visited the house
to find that some essential repairs, including a stained mattress, dented door
and carpet stain had not been carried out. The programme claimed that a total
of 30 students in CPS properties had been charged for damage they said they
didn’t cause. After visiting the properties, Lycett found that most repairs
hadn’t been completed.

The episode culminated in
Lycett and the students holding a rave outside the company’s offices to educate
people on their rental rights.

In response to Lycett’s findings, CPS Homes said: “For 20
years CPS Homes has successfully managed several thousand properties, providing
quality accommodation for renters.

“We are satisfied that the four cases raised in the
programme have already been dealt with via our rigorous complaints procedure,
and through independent adjudication. We therefore feel the rave and filming
were disproportionate to the nature and small number of complaints.”

Lucy and Lizzy have now been awarded hundreds of pounds of their deposits back. After a recent audit, Cardiff Council issued CPS with an ‘action needed’ warning, and Trading Standards has promised to investigate the company.

Watch the programme in full (requires signing in).

Read a guide to rental deposits for landlords.

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