If you are a landlord or indeed a tenant, it pays to be in the know about the Tenancy Deposit Scheme or TDS. Deposit schemes were introduced by law in 2007 and are now a legal requirement and part of the Housing Act 2004. The TDS protects the rights of landlords and tenants when an Assured Shorthold Tenancy is entered into by both parties.
Once a tenant has signed a shorthold tenancy agreement and has paid a deposit to the landlord or their representative, the landlord has 30 days to protect it and register the deposit with a TDS for the duration of the tenancy, if this isn’t done within that time, the landlord could be liable to pay up to 3 times the amount of the deposit back to the tenant and potentially forego certain rights such as beginning eviction proceedings against the tenant.
The point of a TDS is to ensure that a tenant is able to recover their deposit in a timely manner once they have adhered to the terms of their tenancy, paid their rent and kept the property in good repair. At the end of the tenancy, once it has been agreed how much the tenant will receive back from their deposit (depending on the factors like the state of the property) they must be paid any returnable deposit within 10 days.
In a nutshell, the TDS ensures the tenant’s deposit is protected, will help to resolve tenancy disputes between the tenant and landlord and ensure the tenant gets their money back once they stick to the tenancy agreement.
There are some circumstances where it is not necessary to register a deposit with a TDS including:
- If the tenant is a company
- It is a holiday let
- Student rented accommodation by the college or university
- If rent exceeds 100,000 a year
If your landlord hasn’t updated you on the progress of your deposit into the scheme, it is possible to find this information out for yourself by visiting one of the 3 official TDP providers:
- Deposit Protection Service - https://www.depositprotection.com
- Tenancy Deposit Scheme - https://www.tenancydepositscheme.com
- my deposits- https://www.mydeposits.co.uk
If you are a tenant or a landlord and would like some more help, support or advice around Tenancy Deposit Schemes, we are happy to talk you through it in more detail and suggest next steps. Contact our team here to book an appointment.