Scottish Government tenant protection scheme safeguards over £20m of deposits

MORE than £20 million in rent deposits has been paid into new “third party” schemes aimed at providing safeguards for tenants, the Scottish Government said today.

• Scottish Government’s tenancy protection scheme has collected over 35,000 deposits, safeguarding over £23 million

• Estimated that up to £3.6 million is wrongly withheld from tenants by landlords

Since July, the Tenancy Deposit Schemes have taken over 35,000 deposits with a value in excess of £23 million. They were set up amid growing anger over the thousands of Scots who were having their deposits wrongly withheld by landlords.

Landlords will soon have to submit deposits to an approved scheme. The new system starts coming into effect later this month and will be fully implemented by May next year.

Housing Minister Margaret Burgess said: “It is estimated that between 8,000 and 11,000 people have up to £3.6 million wrongly withheld deposits each year.

“This new legislation protects tenants and also the reputation of good landlords who are to be praised for depositing millions in the new schemes.

“Rogue landlords who withhold cash on spurious grounds tarnish the image of the private rented sector and exploit tenants.

“The Tenancy Deposit Schemes are just one of many measures being implemented by the Scottish Government to improve quality for tenants in the private rented sector.“

The schemes are free for landlords and tenants and a free dispute resolution service is also available.

Tenants will have a quicker and cheaper alternative to taking legal action through a sheriff court to recover unfairly withheld deposits.

Approved schemes - SafeDeposits Scotland, Letting Protection Service Scotland and Mydeposits Scotland - are taking deposits from landlords or their agents for safekeeping.