Swan Sales & Lettings
Tenants Deposit Scheme
The Tenants Deposit Scheme protects the landlord and the tenant. Since 2007, it has been a legal requirement for your landlord or letting agent to protect your deposit using one of the three Government approved Tenancy deposit schemes. The reason for the changes were two fold. Firstly to ensure that if you are entitled to get your deposit back at the end of the tenancy, you receive it promptly and, secondly, to encourage landlords and tenants to settle their disputes through alternative dispute resolution rather than the courts.
Deposits are held as a safeguard against damage to the property. If the property is handed back in an acceptable state of repair at the end of the lease period, then the deposit will be returned to you promptly. If there is a dispute, then the landlord has to pass the details over to the authorised scheme and register the dispute. Only if either the Landlord or the tenant do not agree to alternative dispute resolution will the dispute be resolved in the courts.
Swan Sales & Lettings
Inventories
At the start of the rental period, we will go through the inventory of your room and of the house in detail. It will contain a set of photographs, copies of which are available to you. It is important that you take the time to go through the inventory in detail and point out any inaccuracies. The sooner that you do this the better. Many inventories will contain a clause stating that if you do not request amendments with seven days you are deemed to have accepted the contents of the document.
Any disputes about the deposit at the end of the tenancy will be resolved by reference to the inventory.
For further information about the Tenants Deposit Scheme, please read the Tenants Guide to the Tenants Deposit Scheme.
