Thinking of renting out your property?

Letting out your property to tenants whist you cruise the canals for a year or two is one way to recover some of your overheads. At the same time, keeping yourself on the property ladder for the future when you might decide to go back ashore. There are a number of things that have come into being since we decided to let one of our properties. The compulsory tenants deposit protection service is one of them.

However, a whole new tenancy deposit service has come into existence. Offering its claimed, cheaper rates on the lettings market. The new insurance-backed scheme will be in addition to the existing DPS’s custodial service, and will go head to head with the two leaders on the market.  TDS launched by ARLA and Mydeposits by the National Landlords Association. 

Another contender, to be run by Crapita, has yet to show its hand.

The new DPS scheme will charge no membership or annual renewal fees, meaning that the only paperwork will relate to pay-as-you go deposit protections. Agents will be charged £9.50 plus VAT per deposit, with discounts available for volume. Landlords will be charged £15 including VAT for deposits under £500, and £22.50 for deposits over £500.

The charges all undercut existing deposit protection costs. 

• TDS charges agents either £13.25 or £10.25, depending on their level of discount. They pay the TDS £16.50 for deposits up to £500 and £24 for deposits over £500. The TDS DepositGuard scheme has a £75 annual fee and charges £15 or £22.50.

• Mydeposits charges a £50-£100 per branch annual fee, plus between £10  and £35. Landlords currently pay Mydeposits a £60 joining fee and between £17.50 and £30 per deposit.

The DPS currently runs the only custodial based deposit protection scheme in England and Wales and is the first scheme to offer landlords and letting agents both custodial and insurance protection options. The new scheme launches on April 2, but it is possible to register in advance.

Landlords and agents will be able to register on-line as well as by phone, and manage both their custodial and insured deposits via one integrated on-line account. The new insured scheme is due to launch in April and landlords and letting agents are already registering in advance.

Kevin Firth, director of the DPS, said: “We’re delighted to announce the pricing for our insurance based deposit protection scheme and provide our customers with the best value for money deposit protection options. Our goal is to deliver excellent service to the industry, and offering the most cost-effective insured scheme alongside our custodial option will ensure that landlords and letting agents have the best choice of protection.”

The DPS custodial scheme currently protects over 970,000 deposits. The DPS was granted approval by the Government to run the insurance based deposit protection scheme in England and Wales last September.

Later...