In wake of the Third Reading of the Tenant Fees Bill, which is due to take place today, the House of Commons have published their briefing paper regarding Tenancy Deposit Schemes. The paper summarises the purpose of the scheme, outlining that all private landlords are obligated to protect their tenant’s deposit through the Tenancy Deposit Scheme. The paper also outlines the main functions of the Tenancy Deposit schemes, as well as exploring the issues and criticisms surrounding the scheme.

The main criticisms discussed within the briefing paper, include: non-compliant landlords, prolonged dispute resolution, abuse of the scheme, and resolute loopholes.

There have been further criticisms of the current Tenancy Deposit Scheme, with the Consumer Association group Which? labelling the scheme “broken”, due to the prolonged re-payments of deposits to tenants.

The property management company Rushbrook & Rathbone have recently launched a new tenancy deposit replacement product aptly named Property Protect, which was authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Property Protect has been launched in line with the tenant fee ban, making it unlawful to charge tenants for referencing, inventories, and admin fees; changes which are due to implemented next year.

The product is included as an element of the landlord’s insurance package, which consists of rent and legal protection, tenant referencing, protection of property damage, monitoring of tenant’s credit.

Since the introduction of Universal Credit in 2013, there have been a variety of issues raised, especially from people who rent properties and find themselves in debt. The main reason for this is because those who claim for Universal Credit, must wait six weeks before they receive their first imbursement, and therefore are not able to pay their rent in time.

Previously, tenants received some of their benefits or tax credits weekly, which made it easier to pay their rent. These benefits and tax credits included: