Tenants who pay a deposit to a landlord under Assured ShortholdTerrace Tenancies now have enhanced protection through the Tenants Deposit Protection Scheme (TDPS) which came into force on 6 April 2007 in England and Wales. (Does not apply where rent exceeds ?25,000 per annum.) A new dispute resolution services also now exist, to try to reduce the number of disagreements going to court.
Under the TDPS landlords taking deposits must sign up to one of three schemes:
* The Deposit Protection Service . Landlords hand over the deposit in full to DPS, if a dispute arises, the deposit is held until the dispute gets resolved; either in court or through the dispute resolution service. This scheme is free, the other two have a cost.
* Tenancy Deposit Solutions Ltd is a partnership between the National Landlords Association and Hamilton Frazer Insurance. It enables the landlord to hold the deposit.
* The Tenancy Deposit Scheme is an insurance based scheme run by the Dispute Service. It enables the landlord to hold the deposit.
For further information see Direct.Gov website, or Local Government website.
