Why Would I Be In A Difficult Position If I took The Deposit As Last Month’s Rent?
One of the biggest problems could be damages caused to the house. Let’s say that the tenants have damaged certain items then the landlord has used the last month´s rent this, in turn, means that there will be no money in the kitty for any dilapidations, ie cleaning, maintenance, redecoration, gardening.
This means that the landlord would then have to start a small claims court action against the tenants for damages caused and this could not only be costly but you may find it difficult to locate all parties.
Furthermore, if the landlord does use the last month’s rent as a deposit they will not be able to rely on the government back deposit scheme or the ADR which is the alternative resolution service because the deposit will be gone so there will be no funds to distribute or adjudicate with.