Thank you. Will post after when I have an outcome!

Thank you Steve for your help. Point 3 is especially pertinent, that I have the right to negotiate terms till I sign the dotted line. I didn't think of that. As an aside, I later found out that the guy I was dealing with at the agents was also the landlord of the property! In one of his 'Without prejudice' emails he told me that I wanted to make a claim to make it against him rather than the agents. I didn't listen to him of course, but isn't there a conflict of interest here? Does it have any bearing on my 'case'.

I have claimed against a property agent for return of my 'non refundable' holding deposit in the small claims court. After mediation, which has failed, I have understood that the agent has three things points that he will make: 1. that I knew it was a non-refundable deposit 2. that he took the property off the market and 'lost' potential clients 3. that when he subsequently let it he had to accept £20 a week less in rent. My points against these are: 1. I paid the deposit by phone, he emailed the receipt which revealed it was non-refundable if I did not take up the tenancy, but refundable (minus admin costs of £100) if he didn't accept me as a tenant. A biased, one-sided contract 2. From the time I paid the deposit, till the time I told him I would have to pull out he lost two business hours…which could not have possibly cost him £500. 3. That he later let it for £20 a week less is nothing to do with me, perhaps it was overpriced and I should have bargained. I have looked at LandlordZone and OFT Guidelines on Pre-contract deposits. I don't think I have a problem with points 1 and 2, but they don't seem to have anything on point 3. Any help would be much appreciated!