Tulip Siddiq – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what limit is set on each of the three tenancy deposit schemes which hold contracts with his Department to run authorised schemes for the maximum length of time it takes for them to resolve a dispute through alternative dispute resolution; and what guidance or requirements his Department has issued to these schemes on these maximum limits.

Brandon Lewis

Under tenancy deposit protection legislation introduced in the Housing Act 2004, all landlords who let out property on an assured shorthold tenancy are required to protect their tenants’ deposits in one of the three Government-approved deposit protection schemes.

Details of the number of deposits protected under each scheme as at March 2015 are set out below:

Custodial scheme: Deposit Protection Service: 1,170,564

Insurance Schemes:

Tenancy Deposit Scheme: 1,135,769
Deposit Protection Service: 20,944
MyDeposits: 738,853

Whilst the Government has authorised three private companies to provide tenancy deposit protection schemes, we do not have a day-to-day role in the running of the schemes, however, we do maintain an oversight responsibility, and the Department holds quarterly monitoring meetings with scheme providers at which any performance issues can be discussed. Over the period that the schemes have been in operation, they have performed at a consistently high level. We have not issued guidance for the schemes who all engage the services of dispute resolution professionals. However, the majority of disputes are resolved in 28 days, which is the performance target set by the Government.

The number of adjudications per year for each scheme is set out in the attached table, including the percentage of adjudications awarded to tenants and landlords.