Today, the Irish Auctioneers & Valuers Institute (IAVI) has called for the establishment of a Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme, similar to those available in the UK, and voiced its concern over recent proposals to require the payment of deposits on tenancies to the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB).

According to IAVI Vice President Mr Kersten Mehl, “While we support any regulation that will improve fairness and transparency for landlords and tenants in relation to deposits we do not believe that the PRTB should administer this system.

“According to PRTB figures, it is currently taking up to 16 weeks to process a tenancy registration and anecdotal evidence from our members suggests that it can take up to six months in certain cases. With this in mind, we have serious concerns regarding the ability of the PRTB to operate an efficient deposit protection scheme that can return deposits within three working days, which would be the timeframe usually expected by tenants.

“However, we would welcome the establishment of a Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme, operated by an independent body, which would reduce the number of disputes in relation to deposit retention and would provide a greater level of protection to both landlords and tenants,” he said.

Under the UK Housing Act 2004, all deposits taken by landlords and agents for assured shorthold tenancies (AST) in England and Wales must be protected by one of three an authorised tenancy deposit schemes. The Deposit Protection Service (DPS) is a free custodial service, which is funded by the interest earned from deposits; Mydeposits and the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) are insurance-backed deposit protection schemes, whereby the landlord retains the deposit and pays an insurance premium.

“There appears to be a lot of ambiguity among the general public, tenants and landlords in relation to the retention of deposits under the Residential Tenancies Acts (RTA). In a recent submission to Government, the IAVI recommended that the Residential Tenancies Acts should clearly specify guidelines for the return of the deposit. This would speed up the resolution of deposit disputes under the current system,” he said.

Ends

Notes to Editor
Further information on the Tenancy Deposit Protection can be found Here

The IAVI Submission to the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government can be downloaded from the IAVI website here

Contact:
Carina O’Neill, Bracken PR on 01-6773277 or 087 222 8124

Conor O'Donovan, IAVI Communications Officer on (01) 661 1794 or by email