Independent estate agency Sowerbys has become the latest firm to offer tenants a deposit replacement scheme.

The Norfolk-based agent, which has eight offices in Norwich, Burnham Market, Holt, Dereham, King’s Lynn, Hunstanton, Wells-next-the Sea and Watton, has partnered with flatfair.

Rather than pay the traditional deposit, tenants can opt for purchasing a ‘flatbond’ from flatfair – representing a week’s worth of rent – before the tenancy starts. In return for this, landlords are covered for 12, rather than the usual six, weeks of rent.

Everything is managed on flatfair’s online portal, and as with a normal deposit, the tenant remains liable to pay for any damages costing up to the equivalent of six weeks of rent. The idea is that they are thus incentivised to behave responsibly.

Flatfair offers independent resolution by HF Resolution, which runs the MyDeposits scheme. If a tenant is found to owe money for damanges at the end of a tenancy and fails to pay, landlords also get an option for flatfair to buy the debt from them so they are not out of pocket and the scheme then pursues the money itself.

Ed Tyman, group lettings manager for Sowerbys, said: “It’s clear the current deposit system needed a fresh approach and aligning with developing tenant and  landlord expectations.

“The private rental sector continues to grow and evolve rapidly, and the need for innovative technology based solutions to streamline the customer experience has never been greater.

“After a lot of research it quickly became clear that flatfair provided key benefits for both landlords, tenants and agents alike, not often seen or achieved in the industry.

“Our landlords now have access to a range of benefits including twelve weeks protection rather than the traditional, soon to be capped six weeks.”

Daniel Jeczmien, founder of flatfair, said: “We’re thrilled that established independent agencies like Sowerbys are embracing  innovation in the lettings space.

“It’s great to be working in partnership with Sowerbys. They’re a popular and trusted estate agent and they have an outstanding reputation with their customers. Hopefully we can help them strengthen those relationships even further.”

It comes after flatfair announced a similar partnership with Spicerhaart in March.