New guide to tenancy deposits published
New tenancy deposit guidelines will provide more protection for landlords and help to improve standards in the lettings industry, it has been claimed.
Mydeposits.co.uk, the Tenancy Deposit Scheme and the Deposit Protection Service (DPS) have published the Guide to Tenancy Deposits, Disputes and Damages.
The jointly-produced document identifies common issues and sets out a number of guidelines designed to achieve consistency and transparency.
It covers areas such as how to avoid disputes, how to deal with wear and tear and the types of evidence accepted by adjudicators when disputes do arise.
The guide is aimed at landlords and tenants, as well as residential lettings agents.
By law, landlords letting property on an assured shorthold tenancy must protect their tenants' deposits using one of the three authorised schemes.
Each scheme operates a free dispute resolution service, which landlords and tenants can use to decide how much of the deposit should be returned and when.
disagreements may arise where tenants have caused damage to the property, fallen behind on rent, failed to keep the property clean, left outstanding bills, vacated the property before the end of their contract or failed to return keys.
Commenting on the new guide, Kevin Firth, director of the DPS, said: "This represents a significant benefit for tenants, landlords and letting agents and is another example of how tenancy deposit legislation has acted to improve standards in the lettings industry."
He added: "Everyone can get hold of a copy for free and understand for themselves how disputes are adjudicated, potentially helping them avoid these situations in the future."
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