Increase in rental deposits

Sir, – While the issue of whether one or two months’ deposit should be required to rent a property is undoubtedly important, the issue of who holds this deposit also needs to be looked into .

In the UK this deposit is help by a neutral third party who will arbitrate any dispute relating to its return. Compare that to Ireland where the deposit is held by the landlord (who ,remember, the tenant is reliant on for a reference). This system is clearly unfair to tenants and open to abuse. – Yours, etc,

COLM O’CONNOR,

Dublin 7.