Tenancy Deposit Schemes
As part of the Housing Act 2004 the government has introduced tenancy deposit protection for all assured short hold tenancies (ASTs) in England and Wales where a deposit is taken. From April 6th 2007, all deposits paid under the AST have had to be protected within 14 calendar days of receipt by the landlord.
The legislation aims to ensure that tenants who have paid a deposit to a landlord or letting agent receive back their whole deposit or the agreed amount back.
The custodial scheme is run by the Deposit Protection Service (www.depositprotection.com) and it requires the bond to be placed in a client account belonging to the scheme for the duration of the tenancy. At the end of tenancy, after it has been decided how much the landlord will retain (if anything), the landlord shall inform the DPS as to the distribution of the bond who subsequently forward these amounts to the correct recipients. If any disputes arise, they are passed on to the company's own Alternative Dispute Resolution Service. This is the only completely free scheme, run entirely from interest accrued from the deposits, although a portion of the interest is passed on to the landlord and tenants. Please visit the above website for a detailed explanation of this scheme or there is also a government website which provides more information as to the purpose of the scheme (www.direct.gov.uk/tenancydeposit) from which an information sheet can be printed.
Scheme Offers:
FAST Landlords and letting agents can access online accounts 24/7 and submit deposits in minutes, allowing you to concentrate on doing business, not admin.
FREE The DPS is the only government-authorized custodial scheme that is free to use.
SECURE All funds are ring fenced in accordance with client money regulations.
INCLUSIVE The DPS is open to all private landlords and letting agents with no pre-conditions to meet or assessments to take.
FAIR An independent and free Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) service with aim to resolve any disputes quickly and without the need for court action.
RELIABLE The DPS is managed by Computershare Investor Services PLC, a global business with more than ten years deposit protection experience.
Managed Properties:
As an agency we are pleased to be able to offer a solution to landlords who wish us to hold bonds on their behalf, conditional on acceptance of the following terms:
- We believe conducting an in depth moving in inspection and inventory is of the utmost importance.
- It is a condition of us holding any bonds that we also conduct both the moving in and moving out inventories.
- We have the responsibility of holding tenants bonds, we need to be satisfied that the procedure has been correctly adhered to so that disputes are avoided at the end of tenancy.
The package we have devised is as follows:
- The collection and clearing of cheque for the deposit.
- Registering the deposit with DPS which is comprised by giving all tenant details to the scheme and transferring monies.
- Comprehensive moving in inspection and inventory.
- Comprehensive moving out inspection and inventory
- The unprotecting of the deposit at the end of tenancy and the distribution of the monies to the relevant people.
This service would only be available as a package where all the above services are provided to properties managed by Capital Properties.
A copy of all inventories would be forwarded to you along with a list of any maintenance issues arising from the moving in inspection. All inventories will require a signature from the agent, landlord and tenant(s) present.
Any disputes arising between landlord and tenant at the end of a tenancy which cannot be resolved, will be passed over to the arbitrator. There will be a charge per hour for any work we have to do relating to the case.
Please telephone us or book an appointment should you wish to discuss the above in more detail.