Having to deal with boring admin landlord admin. This may be useful, so I thought I’d share it.

What is Tenancy Deposit Protection?

This is a compulsory scheme for landlords. In the words of the DirectGov website:

The schemes allow tenants to get all or part of their deposit back when they are entitled to it and encourage tenants and landlords to make a clear agreement from the start on the condition of the property.

Sounds like good news, doesn’t it? Well yes, except for the unfortunate side effect of neoliberalism: consumer choice. Too much of it, and you end up having to spend all your time constantly researching better deals and suppliers.

Applied to TDP, that means assessing which of the two different schemes and which of the many companies offering the scheme is suitable. Which? has a good summary of Tenancy Deposit Protection.

Who takes care of Tenancy Deposit Protection?

This should be taken care by either the landlord or the letting agent. Basically they find a company who offers the service, sign up to them, pay up any fee, and that should be it. Different companies offer different deals, some only apply to members of certain bodies (like letting agents bodies, or the National Landlords Association, and so on).

Who to pick?

From my research, the two best candidates for a landlord seem to be Deposit Protection Services 0844 4727 000, which is free and run a ‘custodial’ scheme; and MyDeposits 0844 980 0290, which runs a ‘insurance’ scheme.

Disclaimer: I am a web developer, and I am not involving in the letting industry in any way. All I did was ask around, make a few phone calls, and some web research. If you have any better information, do get in touch and let me know.