Deposit for new residents

[lana_sh]

Hello,

We recently encountered an issue involving the relatives of one of our residents. Sadly, the resident passed away, but prior to that, they had not been well enough to maintain their home and designated garden area. Despite several requests to tidy the space, no action was taken.

After the resident’s belongings were removed, we were left with a considerable amount of waste and had to arrange and pay for a professional clean-up service.

This situation has prompted us to review and update our Residents’ Handbook to help us better manage similar situations in the future. We are also considering introducing a deposit for new residents.

The Standards of Almshouse Management states “There is no requirement to ask residents to provide a deposit and it would be inappropriate to ask for this.”
While we understand this is not a common practice for almshouses, we’re interested to know if others have implemented something similar and what their experiences have been.

Many thanks,
Lana
Clerk to the Trustees

[clerk.stjohnswilton]

Hello Lana

I know just how you feel, having had a ‘grot’ who left a mess which we had to clear up. Unfortunately, I think you should follow the advice in SAM and you should not charge a deposit in an almshouse context.

There are a number of very good reasons and if you Google “should you charge a damages deposit for sheltered housing?” and ask for an AI Mode answer, you will see why.

Nick Stiven
clerk@stjohnswilton.org.uk

[lana_sh]

Hi Nick,

Thanks for your prompt feedback. I am sure we are not alone in this.

And yes, the AI works wonders! I wanted to know if anyone here had asked for a deposit at some point. if yes, what was the experience.
As I understand, taking a deposit is not recommended but not legally prohibited.

To be clear, we are just researching this option.

Kind regards,
Lana

[Kevin Cahill]

Hi Lana

We did implement Residents deposit scheme about a decade ago to prevent the issues that you mentioned and significant arrears and setting aside of appointments. During the pandemic the Trustees decided to return the deposits in order to follow best practice and because there had been no reoccurrence of the issues due to the diligence of our Clerk and up to date accountings records..

Kind regards

Kevin Cahill

[Tina LL]

I wonder if asking for a deposit would make the agreement between beneficiary and the charity more like a regular tenancy and not a licence therefore making it harder to set aside an appointment?

[Julian]

Almshouse charities are, of course, not commercial landlords and charging deposits to residents would go against their charitable nature and legal framework. Requiring a deposit would confuse the legal status of charities on the basis that residents are licencees and not tenants; charging deposits would suggest a commercial tenancy is in place as opposed to a licence. This aside, requiring deposits could prevent some from applying to be a beneficiary of the charity. The situation highlighted emphasises the need for routine regular checks to be made of the almshouse dwellings, arranged with prior notice. These provide opportunities to detect issues at an early stage before they become expensive problems. Communication with residents and support provided to them where needed proves to be highly beneficial in the majority of cases. Julian Marczak, Head of Member Services, The Almshouse Association

[p.turner@wycombealmshouses.co.uk]

We do not charge a deposit.

When a licence ends, we expect that the flat will need re-decoration, and new carpets in most cases (we would always clean them even if they looked OK), even if the flat has been well looked after, before a new licensee moves in. We have also had residents who have not kept their flat up to the standard we would have liked, but we would have refreshed the decorating and/or professionally deep cleaned anyway so not really an issue.

The real issue is when we have a resident living in unhabitable conditions due to their own making! but then there are usually other factors that need to be addressed.

[Author]

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