TDS’ easy solution to dealing with the Deposit Cap

When the Tenant Fees Act 2019 came into force in June 2019 it brought with it a number of major changes to the private rented sector (PRS). One of the most significant was the Deposit Cap. Rebecca Johnston, Director of Business Development at TDS (Tenancy Deposit Scheme), explains how not all protection schemes are alike when it comes to supporting you.

Estate agents window with passer by

Is dealing with the Deposit Cap leaving you frustrated? We know how important it is to our members for processes around tenancy deposit protection to be as hassle-free as possible. If you’re one of our members, you’ll know that TDS has been helping letting agents navigate the Deposit Cap. 

From 1 June, the Tenant Fees Act 2019 meant the tenancy deposit of any new or renewed AST (Assured Shorthold Tenancy) in England, would be capped at five weeks’ rent where the annual rent is less than £50,000, and six weeks’ rent where it is £50,000 or more.

TDS is the only deposit protection scheme that enables members to decrease the deposit amount themselves in our online system, without the need to email or call us directly. We then return the excess amount to the tenant.

This isn’t something that the other schemes do. For instance, if you’re with DPS, you need to fill out their spreadsheet and then send it to them via email to return any excess deposits.

With MyDeposits, you have to contact the scheme via email or phone to make any changes to the deposits. Their online systems do not allow you to release excess deposit amounts automatically.

TDS has developed much simpler processes within our Custodial and Insured schemes.  All members of our Custodial scheme have to do is log into your TDS online account and go to the dashboard, find the deposit, enter the new deposit and rent amount for the new tenancy agreement and select the rental period.  We then contact your tenant to repay the excess amount– you don’t need to do anything else.

As TDS Insured members hold the deposit money, once the excess amount has been repaid to the tenant all you need to do is to let us know by logging into your TDS online account, find the deposit within your dashboard and update the deposit amount with the new value.   

And that’s all you need to do!

We’ve also created a resource centre where you can find out everything you need to know about both the Deposit Cap and the Tenant Fees Ban.

The resource centre offers examples of how the Tenant Fees Ban affects tenancy deposit protection (TDP), providing landlords and letting agents with all the information they need to avoid any breach of the new rules.

Agents and landlords are in real danger of falling foul of the law if they don’t make themselves aware of the implications of the new rules. We’re doing everything we can to make things as easy as possible for everyone to not only understand how the legislation affects them but also enabling agents and landlords with our simple online solution to quickly and securely adjust the value of the deposits in-line with the new legislation.

Educating our customers and members on their TDP responsibilities is paramount and we strive to make the processes of deposit protection simple, quick and efficient. As the only not-for-profit tenancy deposit protection scheme, we’re able to invest surpluses back into the business to create new and innovative technology solutions to support our Custodial and Insured scheme members in this way.

As a Propertymark member, you have access to the best Insured scheme rates on the market.