Private Rented Housing: Tenancy Deposit Schemes – Parliamentary Written Answer

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government plans to include deposits of lodgers in deposit insurance schemes.

Esther McVey: The requirement to hold a deposit in a recognised tenancy deposit scheme is restricted to landlords who let on assured shorthold tenancies. Most lodgers do not hold assured shorthold tenancies, but should they do so, their deposits would be covered by a recognised tenancy deposit scheme. The Government has no plans to extend the scope of tenancy deposit schemes.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2019-09-02/285028

Landlords And Tenants Split On New Tenancy Deposit Schemes

Both landlords and tenants are split on the effectiveness of new insurance-based tenancy deposit schemes. Research conducted by letting agent Upad.co.uk revealed concerns from both landlords and tenants regarding various aspects of these schemes. Specifically, landlords were concerned that the insurance would not cover them fully for repairing any damage at the end of the tenancy. Some tenants felt that despite sometimes having to borrow money to pay their deposit, at least in the majority of cases they would get their deposit back, whereas paying for the replacement insurance would see them making payments they’d never get returned. Read more on 24housing.

£1m Raided From Tenants' Deposits By Letting Agents

Letting agents raided more than £1m from tenants' deposit schemes last year. Fourteen letting agents were prosecuted in the UK in 2016 for helping themselves to tenants' cash. Despite the Tenancy Deposit Scheme being introduced to protect tenants' money, deposits can still be held in a bank account controlled by the landlord or agent. Since 2007, landlords and their agents have had a legal requirement to put every tenant's deposit in a government-backed scheme, such as the Tenancy Deposit Scheme. But deposit money can either be held in a custodial account run by the scheme, or it can be held in a bank account, which the landlord or letting agent can access at any time. Read more on the BBC.

The Housing And Planning Bill- Creating A Legal Loophole For Rogue Landlords?

Much of the focus of the Housing and Planning Bill is on the right to buy extension and the forced sale of councils’ most expensive properties.  But this is a Bill of two halves, and the other focuses on measures to tackle rogue landlords and poor conditions in the private rented sector.

These include:

·         Allowing local authorities to ban the very worst landlords and letting agents;

·         Creating a database of rogue landlords and letting agents for local authorities to access;

·         Allowing local authorities to access data on landlords from the tenancy deposit schemes to help enforce against poor conditions; and

·         Giving tenants who are illegally evicted, harassed by their landlord or forced to live in poor conditions the ability to reclaim rent paid to their landlord.

Read more on the Crisis blog.

Lib Dems Set Out a Help to Rent Scheme For Young People

The Liberal Democrats have announced plans to provide government loans for tenancy deposits to help young people to rent their first home. The party’s proposed “help to rent” scheme would allow people aged 18 to 30 to borrow up to £1,500 (£2,000 in London) from the government to use as a deposit on rented accommodation. The loans would be repaid over a period of either 12 or 24 months. The party says many young people are struggling to save deposits to rent without help from family members, forcing them to live with their parents for longer. The average rental deposit in the UK is £1,200, usually six weeks of rent. Read more on the Property Wire website.

Generation Rent Hits Out At Tenancy Deposit 'Rip Off'

Campaign group Generation Rent has criticised the fact that renters are missing out on interest on their tenancy deposits, often ‘the only savings they have.’ The group has launched a consultation on how the tenancy deposit protection system could be reformed to benefit renters. Introduced around 2007, the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) made it a requirement for landlords to deposit money through a national scheme, rather than simply hold tenants’ deposits ransom in their own bank accounts. According to Generation Rent, the TDS has been a ‘vast improvement’, but tenants in Britain are out of pocket to the tune of £95m in interest on deposits that they are forced to hand to landlords. Read more on Inside Housing.