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Last EFIS release: 13/2007 (April 2007)

Form status: New/Amended

Section 213(1) of the Housing Act 2004 stipulates that any deposit for a tenancy paid to a person to secure an assured shorthold tenancy must be handled by the person who receives it in accordance with one of the authorised schemes in force under section 212(1) of the 2004 Housing Act.

On 22nd November 2006, the Government awarded three contracts to Computershare Investor Services PLC, the Dispute Service Limited and Tenancy Deposit Solutions Limited to administer tenancy deposit protection schemes from 6th April 2007.

Computershare will run a single custodial scheme where deposits will be paid into and held in a separate account. This scheme will be funded by the surplus from interest generated on the total of deposits with interest also paid to tenants. This custodial scheme will be free to use for landlords and tenants.

The Dispute Service and Tenancy Deposit Solutions Limited will run insurance based schemes which will be funded by a fee paid by landlords or agents but which will be free for tenants to use.

The new “Protecting Your Deposit” (L&TPYD) form is to be used by a landlord to notify a tenant which scheme the landlord has lodged the tenant’s deposit with, in accordance with new rules which are contained in the Housing (Tenancy Deposits) (Prescribed Information) Order 2007. L&TPYD does not have to be used if the operators of the tenancy deposit protection scheme provide a landlord or agent with their own documentation which performs the same function.

This new ‘Protecting Your Deposit’ form effectively replaces the Landlord Deposit Agreement (LDA) form which should no longer be used to record deposits paid in respect of assured shorthold tenancies created on or after 6th April. We recommend you delete form LDA to prevent any confusion arising after 6th April. Please see deletion instructions.

If you would like to know more about how tenancy deposit protection will operate please refer to the Housing (Tenancy Deposit Schemes) Order 2007 which will come into force on 6th April.

More general information concerning the operation of tenancy deposit protection can be viewed on the Government’s website at http://www.communities.gov.uk/tenancydeposit.

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