Are you protecting your tenant’s deposit?
27th March 2007
Tenancy Deposit Protection from 6 April 2007
New legislation affecting tenancy deposits is scheduled to come into force on 6th April 2007. This legislation is for ALL Assured Shorthold Tenancies and each landlord will now, be required to join a Government-accredited tenancy deposit protection scheme.
What happens if you don't secure a tenant's deposit?
The Tenant can apply to the Court for an order seeking repayment of the deposit or an order compelling compliance. If you have not protected the deposit, and fail to do so, the court must order you, the landlord, to pay the tenant a fine equivalent to three times the deposit, which must be paid by you within 14 days.
Also you will lose your automatic right to regain possession of the property at the end of the tenancy unless you have protected the deposit in a scheme and given the tenant information about how it is protected.
What determines an Assured Shorthold Tenancy?
Where to go from here?
There are two simple options to choose from;
• Sign up to Greene & Co Property Management services and we’ll take care of everything for you at no extra charge.
• Decide from one of the three below schemes (it is up to you to decide which one you want to join and there are included links to these for ease of reference).
They are:
1. The Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) - Insurance based scheme: available to join now - either register on-line or call 0845 226 837 (costs involved)
2. The Deposit Protection Service (DPS) - Custodial and only free scheme: details of how to join the scheme will be available closer to the 6th April 2007
This is the default option for all landlords and letting agents that do not wish or are unable to join insurance based schemes to protect tenants' deposits
3. Tenancy Deposit Solutions Ltd (TDSL) - Insurance based scheme (costs involved)
Once you have joined a scheme, you will need to inform us so that we ensure the relevant deposit clauses are used in your tenancy agreement.
If your property is managed by Greene & Co, we will be able to hold the deposit in a separate client account because we are registered with The Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS).
If we do not manage your property then we are unable to hold the deposit and you will need to ensure that you protect it by registering it under one of the three schemes mentioned above.
If you would like further information regarding the management services, please feel free to contact our Property Manager, Jenny Khan on 07973 837 078 or email jenny@greene.co.uk.
Take the time to look through the information on each scheme through the weblinks above and feel free to contact Greene & Co should you have any queries.
Another useful website to check out is www.direct.gov.uk/tenancydeposit.