Steve Harriott, the Chief of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) has welcomed the new tenancy deposit loan scheme for Ministry of Defence employees.
“This new scheme allows defence personnel to apply for a loan to cover the costs of a new”
deposit on a rented property and for this to be paid back over 12 months. This builds on initiatives by other government departments and should make it easier for tenants to fund the start-up costs of a new tenancy.
“TDS has also recently introduced a similar scheme for its own employees and this has been well received by our staff. We would encourage other employers to provide this benefit to their staff.”
Over 4.4million people in England now rent from private landlords, paying on average £1,062 as a tenancy deposit. Landlords are required by law to register the deposit in a tenancy deposit protection scheme such as TDS, and tenants receiving a loan will need to give their employers proof of this within 45 days.
Mr Harriott continued;
“This is an added incentive for tenants to make sure from the start that their deposit money is safe. Too often tenants don’t think about protection until they have problems getting their money back. If they find their deposit isn’t protected, resolving their dispute is much more difficult process.”
The Tenancy Deposit Scheme is England and Wales’ leading insurance backed deposit protection scheme, protecting 1.1million deposits valued at over £1.3billion. TDS is operated by The Dispute Service Ltd, which also created the TDS Charitable Foundation, a charity which funds educational projects for tenants and landlords with an aim to raise standards in the private rented sector.
