Despite the average deposit amount rising by 1.4% between Q3 and Q4 2014 London was amongst many areas in England and Wales which saw a quarterly drop at the end of 2014 according to my|deposits.

The average tenancy deposit protected by my|deposits now stands at £1,226, a £52 rise over the last 12 months, in London there was a 2.6% drop in the final quarter equating to £49, bringing the average down to a total of £1,811.

Eddie Hooker, CEO of mydeposits, said: “This the first cycle in which we’ve seen a steady quarter-on-quarter reduction to average deposit values in many parts of England and Wales.

“While it’s difficult to pinpoint an exact reason for this, it is most likely to be attributable to rental demand tailing off throughout December. This is because deposits are commonly set at between four-six week’s rents. Landlords and agents are more likely to accept lower than advertised rents in December in order to avoid having vacant properties over the Christmas and New Year period and experiencing a void.”

London still has the most expensive average deposit paid by tenants in the UK, with a year on year increase of 4.6% which equates to £79.

The East Midlands saw an 11% (£67) increase up to £679 per average deposit whilst the West Midlands fell by 5.3% (£42) down to £747. In the North West there was a £24 (3.9%) rise to £650, whilst the North East saw the largest monetary drop in value with a huge 31.6% (£263) fall to £567, the lowest overall across England and Wales. Wales also saw a big drop of 23% (-£197) in deposit values taking their average total to £657.

Deposits in the East of England dropped at the same pace as London (-2.6%) for the quarter but saw the biggest increase across the U.K throughout the year with a 6.2% (£60) hike up to £1,021, the third highest behind the South East (£1,203) and London.