As you may know, the Scottish Government is introducing legislation that will make it compulsory for all landlords and letting agents in Scotland who take deposits for a relevant tenancy to protect them with a Government approved custodial tenancy deposit scheme. The LPS Scotland has submitted an application to run a scheme and, once approved by the Scottish Government, will be the only provider with any experience of running a custodial tenancy deposit protection scheme.
It will be operated by the same company who run The Deposit Protection Service (The DPS) – the only company with five years’ experience of running a custodial scheme. The DPS - which currently operates in England and Wales – has protected more than 1.7m deposits to date, amounting to more than £1.3 Billion.
Experience matters and having already established The DPS from the beginning we know how to support landlords and letting agents through the transition of new legislation. We’ve established tried and tested systems, developed robust processes and continually innovated to ensure we’re providing the best possible service to our customers.
When approved, The LPS Scotland will use this knowledge to provide fast, free and secure deposit protection to support Scottish landlords and letting agents in complying with regulations.
A bit about the legislation
Under the Tenancy Deposit Schemes (Scotland) Regulations 2011, which came into force in March 2011, landlords and letting agents will have a duty to protect tenants’ deposits as soon as the first approved scheme launches. From that date they’ll have 30 days to protect deposits for all new tenancies. Landlords holding deposits for existing tenancies will have 9 months from the launch of the first scheme to protect their tenants’ deposits.
The scheme will hold on to the deposit for the duration of the tenancy – providing assurance to tenants that it is not being used for any other purpose – and at the end of the tenancy both parties will agree on how the deposit should be repaid. The DPS currently repays deposits in an average of two working days from the point of agreement.
Kevin Firth, Director of The DPS will be giving a presentation on 9th November at our Edinburgh office where you can learn more about the legislation, what it will mean for you and how The LPS Scotland will work once approved.
He’ll also be sharing his experiences of running the scheme for landlords and tenants in England and Wales.
If you’d like to attend the event please email us to register your interest. Or, if you’d like us to send you more information on The LPS Scotland following approval from Scottish Government, send us an email or visit our website.
We’ll keep you up to date on developments here on the blog and via Twitter (LPS_Scotland).