The tenancy deposit protection scheme was brought into force on 6th April 2007. It was introduced to provide protection for tenants by preventing landlords and letting agents to be able to unfairly withhold a deposit. The tenancy deposit protection scheme protects all assured shorthold tenancies.

This scheme basically means that at the end of your tenancy you will get all or part of your deposit back as long as the property is in the same condition as it was in when you entered the property. All landlords and letting agencies have to agree to the tenancy deposit protection schemes. It was designed to ensure that:

• You will get all or part of your deposit back, when you are entitled to it
• If there are disputes between you and your landlord or agent they will be easier to resolve
• Landlords and letting agents who do not protect tenancy deposits will have to pay their tenant back three times the deposit

With this new scheme you will pay your deposit as normal at the start of your tenancy. Then the scheme states that within 14 days the landlord/agent is required to provide you with details about how your deposit is being protected. To do this they new to provide you with the contact details of the tenancy deposit scheme, the contact details of the landlord/agent and how to apply for the release of the deposit as well as information explaining the purpose of the deposit and what to do if there is a dispute about the deposit.

If you find out that during your tenancy your landlord isn’t protecting your deposit then you can apply to your local county count, which will then mean that the landlord will be ordered to repay three times the amount of your deposit to you.

When it comes to the end of your tenancy it is important that you check whether you are leaving the property in the same condition it was in when you began your tenancy and you should also check all of the contents within the property, you need to check them to ensure that they are still in the condition that they were in when you started your tenancy in the property. You should then ensure that all of your rent has been paid up to date. Once these aspects have been taken care of you and your landlord can then agree how much of the deposit should be returned to you; you should then, within ten days, receive the agreed amount of deposit.

If, when deciding on the amount of deposit that should be returned to you, there is a dispute between you and your landlord, thanks to the tenancy deposit scheme there is a free service provided to resolve the dispute. If both tenant and landlord agree to use this service then they are bound by the decision of the service. This free service is known as Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).

By agreeing to the Tenancy Deposit protection scheme you are abiding by the rules that the scheme sets out so it is important that both tenants and landlords take the rules on board.

Helen is the web master of ARCH Property Management, specialists in all aspects of The Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme and Property Letting.