Westminster has been discovered by the Deposit Protection Service (DPS) to be the most expensive place to rent in England and Wales.
In terms of the average deposit required by landlords, the area led the way in December with £1,890, although this is £19 less than a tenant would have had to pay six months earlier.
The City of London is the second-most expensive place to rent (£1,808), followed by Islington (£1,542).
One up-and-coming place for trend-savvy tenants could be Richmond upon Thames, judging by the jump in the level of deposit that is needed to be able to sign a tenancy agreement there.
Between June 2008 and December 2008, the deposit required has climbed by £41 from £1,390 to £1,431, which is the largest increase in the top ten most expensive areas.
However, considering we are in a recession, the most important thing people may wish to know is where the cheapest place to rent is and that accolade goes to Rhondda - a former coal-mining valley in south Wales.
Tenants wishing to rent a typical property in Rhondda will have to stump up a £326 deposit before they get their rent book, which is £1,654 less than Westminster.
If Tony Blair's investments were to take a nosedive during the recession, the former prime minister could head back to his old constituency and secure a tenancy with a £344 deposit, after the DPS found his former stomping ground Sedgefield to be the second least expensive place to rent in the UK.
Other areas of note that appear in the top ten of cheap local authorities include the northern areas of Hartlepool, Lancaster and Middlesbrough.
Kevin Firth, director of the DPS, says: "Our bi-annual deposit index looks a lot like the Premier League table there is some jostling for position at the top but it is still the same familiar names in the shake up."
He adds: "What it does show is that at a time when house prices are plummeting, rental values are holding up comparatively well and that could explain the hundreds of new landlords the Deposit Protection Service signs up every day."
Legislation introduced in April 2007 dictates that every landlord and letting agent who takes a deposit in England has to use one of two tenancy deposit protection methods for any new or updated tenancies.
The two methods are either a custodial or an insurance-based scheme. The law dictates that landlords who fail to register a deposit face being fined up to three times the value of the deposit, which could be a costly mistake in Westminster.
Such a fine in Westminster could see a landlord hit with a penalty of around £5,670, based on the DPS' figures, while such a fine in Rhondda could reach £978.
Furthermore, landlords who fail to register their deposit could lose their eviction rights, the DPS says.
In October of last year, the DPS announced that it had paid out a total of £1 million in interest in just 18 months.
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Written by Christopher Evans
