Landlords more successful with deposit disputes

While 99.4 per cent of private tenants’ rent deposits are returned without problems at the end of the lease period, there has been a marked shift in the outcome of disputes in the remaining cases, with landlords being more successful with claims than a year ago.

An analysis of the dispute resolution scheme run by mydeposits.co.uk, a leading provider of tenancy deposit protection, shows that landlords are currently being awarded part or all of disputed amounts in 51 per cent of cases, with 43 per cent split with the tenant and eight per cent awarded in full to the landlord.

“The more equitable balance between tenant and landlord has come about because landlords have improved the quality of the evidence they are providing to substantiate claims” says Eddie Hooker, chief executive of mydeposits.co.uk

“The law starts with the principle that the money is the tenant’s. It’s up to the landlord to justify withholding all or part of a deposit.”

mydeposits.co.uk protects over 400,000 tenants’ deposits valued at over £360m. Since tenancy deposit protection became law in April 2007 the scheme has received about 19,000 calls from tenants about possible complaints, of which around 11,000 have been settled amicably between landlord and tenant without the need for referral of a dispute to formal adjudication.