What is a tenancy deposit scheme?

Question

Answer

A landlord, if you are planning to take a deposit you must ensure that the deposit is protected within 30 days of receiving the deposit from your tenant. You will need to use a goverment approved deposit protection scheme. This is a legal requirement under the Tenancy Deposit Protection legislation, which is set out in the Housing Act 2004, and is the same whether you as a landlord choose to hold the deposit, or whether you choose to have it help by a third party.

The information you must provide is:

• The address of the rented property
• How much of the deposit your tenant has paid
• How the deposit is protected
• The name and contact details of the tenancy deposit protection scheme and its dispute resolution service
• Your (or your letting agency’s) name or contact details
• The name and contact details of any third party that’s paid the deposit
• Why you would keep some or all of the deposit
• How to apply to get the deposit back
• What to do if your tenant can’t get hold of you at the end of the tenancy
• What to do if there’s a dispute over the deposit

It is important to remember that you officially receive a deposit when a cheque, cash or bank transfer is received by you, not when it is cleared in your bank account, so make sure you take this into account!