Tenancy Deposit Protection

On 6th April 2007, new Tenancy Deposit Protection laws came into force. All new or renewed Assured Shorthold Tenancies from 6th April 2007 must have the Tenants Deposit money registered in 1 of 3 approved government schemes. These are;

The Deposit Protection Service (DPS)

This is the sole Custodial scheme, meaning the money is actually held by the scheme, not the Landlord or Agent. The running costs of this scheme are funded entirely from the interest earned on all the deposits held within it. The Custodial scheme is run by Computershare who have administered similar schemes for some years in other parts of the world, particularly Australia and New Zealand. For more information visit the website www.depositprotection.com

The Dispute Service (TDS)

This is an Insurance-based scheme and was established back in 2003 to provide independent dispute resolution and complaints handling for the lettings industry. It has been running a voluntary tenancy deposit scheme for use by regulated agents since that time and is backed by the three professional bodies for letting agents in the residential property sector, ARLA, NAEA and RICS. It is only available to agents who belong to one of the recognised professional bodies. For more information visit the website http://www.thedisputeservice.co.uk/ or call 0845 226 7837.

Tenancy Deposit Solutions Ltd (TDSL)

This is an Insurance-based scheme; it is a partnership between the National Landlords Association and Hamilton Fraser insurance brokers. For more information visit the website www.mydeposits.co.uk/

To find out more information about how this may effect you, please contact us for advice or click onto the following link to the government's information website;

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TenancyDeposit/index.htm