Tenancy Deposit Scheme Approaches the Billion Pound Mark

LONDON - At the approach of the second anniversary of mandatory tenancy
deposit protection next week (on Monday April 6), the Tenancy Deposit Scheme
reports that it is protecting over GBP800 million pounds in tenants deposits,
an increase of a quarter of a billion pounds in less than 12 months.

These deposits cover against damage and dilapidations in over
800,000 tenancies housing 1.25 million tenants. The average amount of the
deposits is just short of GBP1,000 for each tenancy.

The figures show that the Tenancy Deposit Scheme safeguards
close on half of all Assured Shorthold Tenancies current in the private
rented sector. These tenancies are in properties owned by some 600,000
landlords and arranged through 5,000 letting agents’ offices, as well as by
corporate landlords who are members of the scheme.

Inevitably, the number of deposit disputes going to
Alternative Dispute Resolution has also risen, with some 6,000 disputes
handled in 2008/09.

Said Lawrence Greenberg, Chief Executive of the Tenancy
Deposit Scheme, “Together, all three deposit protection schemes authorised by
government have put the message across to the public about the merits of
deposit protection. For us, too, there has been a learning curve and we have
endeavoured to make everything user-friendly for our members and easy for the
public to understand.”

The Tenancy Deposit Scheme begins the third year of mandatory
protection with two new appointments, Debra Rymer has joined as Chief
Operating Officer to take over many of the responsibilities for running the
business. This will free up the Chief Executive to maximise the systems,
applications and benefits of dispute resolution.

In addition, from this month, the newly appointed Outreach
Manager, Helen McCarthy, will be liaising with lettings agents and helping
them with problems they may have in making the best use of the Scheme.
Additional Casework Scrutiny Managers and adjudicators are top be appointed
during the next few months.

Said Lawrence Greenberg, “Although our experience with deposit
protection goes back many years before mandatory protection came into being,
the additional workload and the increase in public awareness has led us to
develop a much more sophisticated approach to this vital element of consumer
protection for the rental market.”

Source: Tenancy Deposit Scheme

Media Contact: Malcolm Harrison +44(0)20-7581-8335