Published statistics have given the first real glimpse of how successful The Tenancy Deposit scheme (TDS) has been during the six months since it became a legal requirement in the Private Rented Sector.
217,134 landlords have joined to the scheme, covering 282,364 tenancies that house 428,769 tenants.
The TDS is one of the three schemes authorised by the Government. It aims to safeguard more than £283m in tenants’ deposits. The average deposit covered by the scheme is over £1,200.
The autumn TDS news bulletin shows that the volume of disputes is rising and the first disputes under the new statutory requirements are beginning to appear.
More than half of all disputes include disagreements over cleaning premises at the end of a tenancy.
Nearly half involve damage while other dispute favourites include rent arrears and gardening. Overall, the scheme has found equally in favour of landlords and tenants.
The autumn news bulletin is the first issue to be published since deposit protection became mandatory and it shows the success of the scheme in coping with the flood of a totally unpredictable number of enquires.
At its height, during April, the numbers peaked at more than 3,000 calls a week. This has now settled at an average level of 800 calls a week.
The bulletin shows membership of the TDS running at some 5,350 branches, belonging to some 3,500 lettings firms.
Eighty per cent of these firms are regulated by membership of their professional bodies, while most of the rest are either unregulated or belong to other industry organisations.
There are also a number of corporate landlords, some of them particularly active in the student sector of the lettings market.
