New Rental - Deposit Question

Myself and my girlfriend are in the process of renting an apartment at the moment and have found one we like for 900 euro a month but the letting agent wants a 1200 euro desposit because we have never rented before.

I've talked to a lot of people in the last few days who are either renting or have rented before and none of them have ever came across this before and some even suggested it might be illegal.

I cant see the point in it why does an extra 300 make us more reliable tenants? The only thing it will do is make the first month extra tight for us as we had only budgeted on spending 1800 for the months rent and deposit and as we are first time renters we have to buy essentials like bedcloths and stuff!

Any info or comments appreciated

It sounds unorthodox - the market is too flush with rentals right now to bother with chancers, I think. Why not just find another apartment?

Don't tolerate that. There's so much excess supply that no doubt you can find one you like equally

Personally speaking I've always asked for a months rent for a deposit but the reality is I could ask for a year if I so wanted.

OP what you could do is ask your LL if it is possible to spread the €300 over the course of a few weeks.

Of course you could ask for a year, SLF. But what eejit would pay it? Have you noticed how many apartments there are out there at the moment? It's not 2003 anymore. Why should a renter bother putting up with a stupid request from a landlord who doesn't seem to have copped current market conditions?

Face it, landlords don't have the power at the moment.

Last year we wanted to rent a house in Dublin. The rent was 1700 and we said we were interested. When we went into the letting office we were informed the owner wanted 3400 deposit as there were granite worktops in the house and other high spec items. Needless to say we walked right back out and found another place no problem. Place was still available to rent after 4 months for 1500.
That was a year ago so just walk away and find another apartment (there are a LOT of them) and just pay the months rent as a deposit.

S.L.F said:

I could ask for a year if I so wanted.

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Sorry ntab2 I should have explained the reason why I put that in it was because the OP said people said to him or her, it might be illegal.

Its not illegal to ask for a bigger deposit for a flat.

Lets face facts when people ruin someones apartment a months deposit will not cover the costs of getting it back square again.

I can't quote any figures but I believe in some countries the deposit is far more than a months rent.

i own real-estate agency. And i know that people take 1months pay in advantage in case if something will be broken etc..

BUT those 300?!? What a ****??? It seems when you will want to get your deposit back they will give you 900 back and will say , "huh?What 300? Deposit is only 900? Dont know anything about it..." Didn't you thought about it? I saw this happening...

BE carefull. And best advice is , dont take that apaprtment, LANDLORD MUST provide all the items or get your rent lower...if he requires you to buy stuff...

Good Luck in your new searches!

Renters in ireland have it easy.

In the US, it's first, last and a security, and the house you get is unfurnished, and you're expected to bring references from your last x landlords, and be subjected to a credit check.

While there are good and bad tenants in ireland, some of them take this p^&& with their demands/entitlements....

There are plenty of houses out there if you don't like the rules in that one. But it's the landlords call, and you can like it or move on.

Mercenary - do you really own a real estate agency?????

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huh?What 300? Deposit is only 900? Dont know anything about it..."

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Any agency worth their salt would have standard rental agreement (legally required)

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LANDLORD MUST provide all the items

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Provision of bedlinen, towels etc is NOT the norm & this is what the OP is refering to (first rental so he is budgeting for this, as you would expect)

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get your rent lower...if he requires you to buy stuff...

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You can ask, but no obligation on the landlord to do so....even what some people may assume is standard (eg - I don't provide a TV so I don't provide a TV stand. I do have a coffee table which one tenant used for the TV and then asked me to buy another coffee table - I said no)

Considering you claim to own a agency, you have made some very fundamental errors