From a landlords point of view 'only' two months rent as a deposit is not enough.
As has been stated before you are loaning someone a bit of kit worth quarter of a million quid, on the basis of their good word and a couple of grand up front.
There is a reason why extra guarantors are required. and one needs to ensure that if a payment is missed, the landlord is not out of pocket.
There is currently talk in the EU about standarising the deposit taken across Europe to be the normal average. Given that 3 to 6 months is normal elsewhere I'd guess they will go for 3 months rent as a deposit.
Yes...
but
2 months' rent, plus first month's rent in advance, is a shedload of money. I say this with two of us in the house both having well paid jobs. We've thankfully not had 2 months' rent required yet, but have had 1.5 times, and it's a tight squeeze - especially if you've just been given 1 month's notice at your previous house!
Remember, in most cases, that the previous landlord is still clinging to your deposit at this stage, as you'll only get that back after 10 days after
that tenancy ends (* if the agency bothers to phone you and request your bank details; which they don't, even though they were really good at phoning to get prospective tenants round for viewings and your phone number hasn't changed).
From what I understand, the rest of the EU generally has a more well developed rental market with longer term rents, requiring 3 months' rent for a 6 month contract is ridiculous.
(4 landlords in 5 years here; thankfully mine have been good on the whole; but equally we've never had any major issues that need sorting!).
