The Drawback with Deposits within the Previous
Up to now tenants’ deposits have been paid on to the owner who held them all through the interval of the tenancy. The owner was required to refund the deposit on the finish of the tenancy however was not required to avoid wasting or shield it in any manner. The owner was additionally entitled to resolve for themselves how a lot may very well be deducted from a deposit on the finish of a tenancy for damages and so forth., and the way a lot must be refunded.
This led to issues and disputes in some circumstances, the place landlords and tenants disagreed in regards to the quantity of any deductions. There have been additionally issues the place the owner claimed to be unable to repay the deposit, and even couldn’t be traced.
Consequently, as of April 2007, the federal government launched a tenancy deposit scheme or TDS which legally requires all rental deposits taken as a part of assured shorthold tenancies to be protected. Landlords or letting brokers taking deposits from tenants on ASTs should put their deposit into an authorised tenancy deposit safety scheme or TDP scheme for brief.
The aim of TDP schemes is to make sure that tenants can get their deposit again on the finish of their tenancy, much less any legitimate deductions, and to resolve any disputes relating to refunds.
Deposits don’t have to be protected if the tenancy is an assured tenancy or a protected tenancy, nor if the lodgers or tenants are in pupil halls.
