The DPS Scheme Is Proved to Make Tenants Feel More Secure

Tenancy deposit, which was introduced two years ago in April 2007, has proved to be an effective tool of delivering a secure system of tenant protection. The idea of the DPS scheme is to protect the deposit and to reduce the risks for both parties, the landlord and the tenant. On the one hand, the landlord who fails to register the deposit will be fined for up to 3 times of deposit and might lose his eviction rights; on the other hand, tenants who were proven to damage the property will forfeit their deposit to cover landlord’s losses. Recent survey, conducted by The Deposit Protection Service (DPS) demonstrated that 91% of tenants now feel more secure. Although the tenant deposit scheme has proved a great success to tenants, there is still a slight concern for reluctant landlords and amateur letting agents, who have just entered the market because of the property market crunch and either ignore or are unaware of current legislation. The issue has always been whether the tenants would get their deposit back when the tenancy agreement expires and whether the landlords actually have the money to give back. Under the new scheme, the landlord is obliged to provide tenants with a confirmation that the money is securely protected within 14 days of accepting a deposit. The scheme is still actively growing with 250 new landlords joining it every day. At the moment, the scheme has 146,000 registered landlords and it has already returned £125 million of deposits.