TDS protects tenants and letting agents
Letting Agents - 25/08/2006 13:30:10
Students and other people renting property off landlords and letting agents are to get a new protection when the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) becomes mandatory.
From April next year, letting agents and landlords will have to join up to the system, which is designed to help protect both them and their tenants in disputes about deposits.
Over 1,300 letting agents already offer the TDS, which was launched two years ago, but many private landlords are still not up to speed with the scheme and could find themselves in trouble.
Lawrence Greenberg, chief executive of the TDS, said: "Sometimes these disputes are found in favour of the landlord, sometimes the tenant, but in most cases we find merit on both sides.
"The rate at which we have been adjudicating and apportioning deposit monies has risen sharply, from under 200 cases for the whole of 2005 to well over 300 within the first six months of this year."
According to the Citizens Advice Bureau, nearly £800 million of deposit is held by letting agents and landlords with no regulations over how it is held or how it is returned.
And with one million students expected to move into rented accommodation in time for the start of the new academic year, landlords and letting agents are preparing for a whole new batch of tenant troubles, according to Mr Lawrence.
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