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Not Enough People Understand the Tenant Deposit Scheme

In the biggest study of its kind, SafeDeposits Scotland has found that a large majority of tenants do not understand the deposit protection process currently in place to protect the rights of private tenants across the country.

Of the 4,500 tenants asked, a quarter did not know that their deposits were protected until receiving a welcome email from SafeDeposits Scotland, or that it is a legal requirement for their landlord to register their deposit for protection by a Government backed scheme.

When it comes to moving on from private rented accommodation, 36.4% of tenants did not know how to claim back deposits after moving out. In the event of any disputes over deposits, a large 55.8% weren’t aware of the free adjudication service that government backed deposit schemes offer to help tenants challenge the decision to withhold or only pay part of a deposit back.

With approximately 280,000 households in the private rented sector, and the average deposit protected by SafeDeposits Scotland being £723, there is a lot of money potentially being lost by tenants due to poor understanding of the legislation in place to help protect from unfair landlords.

SafeDeposits Scotland is one of the three government backed deposit protection schemes in Scotland, alongside Letting Protection Service Scotland and My Deposits Scotland, providing tenants here with some of the most robust protection in UK. For instance, if a landlord fails to protect a tenant’s deposit within 30 days of the beginning of a new lease, the tenant could be liable for up to three times the deposit value in compensation – so it could well pay for private tenants to ensure they know their rights!

Here at Clyde, our tenants don’t have to worry

As you can read about here, Clyde property and the landlords we work with are fully compliant with tenant deposit protection legislation and have been so since it was first implemented in 2012. With our dedicated lettings team, the satisfaction, protection and safety of tenants is of the upmost importance to us. We welcomed this legislation when introduced, seeing it as a step towards upholding professional standards for the rental sector and would encourage tenants to understand this process and their rights in full – please just get in touch for more info or guidance.

Clyde Property is a leading independent, multiple award-winning estate agent with over 30 years’ experience in selling and letting property in Scotland. Just call your local Clyde Property branch today, for friendly, impartial advice on letting and renting property.

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