Tenancy deposit adjudication

Tenancy deposit protection is mandatory across England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The legislation in each jurisdiction requires qualifying tenancy deposits to be protected with a scheme administrator appointed by the relevant government. In addition to protecting tenancy deposits, each scheme administrator is required to provide a free dispute resolution function as part of their service, which can be used when landlords and tenants do not agree about the allocation of the deposit. The costs of providing this service are met by the scheme administrators from the interest they earn on deposits held (in custodial schemes) or from the fee that is charged to landlords to protect deposits (in insurance-backed schemes).

This section is maintained by Steve Harriott, the Group Chief Executive of The Dispute Service Ltd.