In this #AskTDS blog, we answer a landlord’s question; I’m taking over management from my letting agent, do I need to re-protect my tenancy deposit?
There are instances where a landlord has decided to manage the property themselves, and so would like the deposit protection to reflect this. The process of transferring a deposit from an agent member to a landlord member is as follows.
TDS Insured agent membership to TDS Insured landlord membership:
If your agent is using TDS Insured and you wish to protect the deposit yourself with TDS Insured, you will need to create a free membership (if you have not already done so) via the ‘Join the Tenancy Deposit Scheme for Landlords’ page on our website. You will need then register the deposit and pay the small protection fee, and provide the certificate to your agent, as confirmation of the deposit protection, for them to release the deposit funds to you.
TDS Insured agent membership to TDS Custodial landlord membership:
In the instance you wish to transfer the deposit from your agents TDS Insured protection into our TDS Custodial scheme, you will need to ‘Join TDS Custodial’. Once this has been completed, you will need to register the deposit and give the agent the TDS Custodial deposit registration number (this starts with EW) and the TDS Custodial bank details for the agent to transfer the deposit monies.
TDS Custodial agent membership to TDS Custodial landlord membership:
In order to transfer the deposit protection from your agents TDS Custodial membership to a TDS Custodial membership of your own, you will need to ‘Join TDS Custodial’ and register the deposit.
Once this has been completed, you will need to provide your membership number and your name, as stated in their membership, to your agent. Your agent can then log into their account, locate the deposit protection and click on the “Transfer deposit” button at the bottom of the page. They will then need to input your membership number and name and click on “Transfer single deposit”. You will then be notified of this transfer request by email. You will need to log into their account and accept the transfer request. This completes the process.
About TDS
Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) is a Government-approved scheme for the protection of tenancy deposits; TDS offers both Insured and Custodial protection and also provides fair adjudication for disputes that arise over the tenancy deposits that we protect.
We provide invaluable training in tenancy deposit protection and disputes for agents and landlords through the TDS Academy as well as joining with MOL to provide the Technical Award in Residential Tenancy Deposits.
TDS Insured Scheme: where a TDS member can hold the tenancy deposits as stakeholder during the term of the tenancy.
TDS Custodial Scheme: where TDS hold the deposit for the duration of the tenancy.
TDS Academy: TDS provides property professionals with invaluable training in tenancy deposit protection and tenancy deposit disputes.
TDS Northern Ireland: TDS is Northern Ireland’s leading and only not for profit tenancy deposit protection scheme.
TDS can only comment on the process for our scheme, other deposit protection schemes may have a different process/require different steps. Content is correct at the time of writing.
These views are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect the view of TDS, its officers and employees.
ARLA|Propertymark: For agents who would like to stay up to date, you can contact Propertymark | ARLA at: join@propertymark.com. By being a member of Propertymark | ARLA you will be eligible for TDS Insured best headline rates.
RLA: If you are a landlord and would like to keep up to date with any changes that may affect you or your responsibilities, you can contact the RLA at: info@rla.org.uk and quote reference: dg715 to receive 25% off your first year’s membership.