Tenancy Deposit Schemes

Tenancy Deposit Schemes

15:24 PM, 9th March 2010, About 14 years ago 1

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For all tenancy agreements that started on or after 6th April 2007 landlords are required to protect their tenant’s deposit using one of the Government authorised schemes. Within fourteen days of receiving the deposit, the landlord is required to inform the tenant of how it is protected.

There are three schemes:

  • Two which are Insurance based, allowing landlords to hold the deposits themselves; the Tenancy Deposit Scheme run by the Dispute Service and MyDeposits
  • One which is custodial based, thus allowing the company to hold the full deposit until the end of the tenancy on the landlord’s behalf. The free custodial scheme is managed by the Deposit Protection Service.

All schemes provide free resolution for any problems at the end of the tenancy.

If landlords fail to comply:

  • Tenants may apply for a court order demanding that the deposit is protected or repaid
  • A fine of three times the deposit amount will be payable to the tenant
  • Landlords will lose the right to repossess their property under the ‘notice only’ method.

For more information on Tenancy Deposit Protection visit the below links

Directgov | Deposit Protection Service | Mydeposits | Tenancy Deposit Scheme


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