Just 54 per cent of tenants in Orange were returned their full bond money when they left a property this year.
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Figures supplied by NSW Fair Trading on behalf of the Rental Bond Board showed that in the latest quarter [July-September 2017] only 269 of the 497 tenants to leave their rental property were returned their full bond.
The normal bond is the equivalent of four weeks rent.
The figures also showed that in the April-June quarter 20.5 per cent of tenants did not get any bond back.
In the July-September quarter 16.3 per cent did not get any bond back.
The non-return of bonds is usually due to the non-payment of rent, the need for repairs to the property, for cleaning costs or by arrangement to cover tenants breaking the lease early.
The rate for Orange was below that of some areas of Sydney.
A vacate/clean could be up to $500.
- Libby Seaman, Principal Ray White Orange
In one area of south-west Sydney around Carramar, Landsdowne and Villawood 61 per cent of bond money was retained by estate agents in the April-June quarter.
Ray White Orange real estate principal Libby Seaman said it was usual some people did not get their full bond back.
In September five of the 16 tenants who left rental properties managed by her agency did not get a full bond return.
Ms Seaman said costs for cleaning after people vacated the property were often taken out of the bond.
“A vacate/clean could be up to $500,” she said.
She said that only about 2 per cent of tenants were in the worst-case scenario of not paying rent.
Ms Seaman said the rental market in Orange was particularly busy now as many people who were renting while awaiting work on their own properties to be completed by Christmas were ready to move out.
That would put more rentals into a tight market.
“This time of the year becomes really busy,” she said.
“We’ve been running at less than 2 per cent of availability, that is extraordinarily low.
“It used to be seen as acceptable at 6 per cent.
“There were times this year when I have had no properties to rent.”
The Tenants’ Union of NSW latest Rent Tracker publication showed the median rent for a three bedroom house in Orange was $320 a week in June – the same as last year.
The median rent for a two-bedroom unit in Orange was $260 a week - up 8.3 per cent on 2016.