Protection for rental deposits

The activities of "cowboy" landlords and letting agents who rip off millions of pounds of tenants' deposit money every year are to be curbed by legislation.

After a year-long campaign by Shelter and Citizens Advice, the Government has agreed to include a protection scheme for tenants' deposits in its Housing Bill. The proposals will ensure deposits are held in a government-run or approved scheme.

This will prevent an average of 127,000 private tenants having their deposits unfairly withheld every year.

But the Government has been warned it must set rigorous standards for the independent schemes to ensure decisions on the return of deposits are made quickly and are properly enforced.

Housing Minister Keith Hill said: "Twenty per cent of tenants say they have suffered from landlords withholding their deposit without good reason. This is something the Government will not ignore."