In this week’s #ExpertView, Steve Harriott, CEO of TDS, discusses the upcoming CMP legislation and how it will affect TDS membership.
Later this year, we expect the government to introduce legislation making it a legal requirement for letting agents in England to be registered with a Client Money Protection (CMP) scheme.
Agents in other parts of the UK, including Wales and Scotland, are already bound by CMP regulations, and England looks set to be next.
Essentially, CMP is designed to reimburse both the landlord and the tenants if an agent goes bust or misuses client money, such as rent, or monies held for maintenance works.
We support the introduction of CMP as a means to protect all parties within the private rented sector (PRS), which is why we have (alongside Propertymark) launched the CMP scheme, Money Shield.
Owned jointly by TDS and Propertymark, Money Shield is a CMP scheme available to UK lettings agents. It offers a straight-forward and cost-effective CMP solution, allowing agents to secure robust protection for their clients without membership of a professional body.
Crucially, Money Shield membership is also a route to approved membership for letting agents who wish to use TDS’ Insured deposit protection scheme.
We already have robust systems in place to properly protect tenancy deposits, and – working with recognised bodies to create Money Shield – we can now offer full protection for the private rented sector (PRS).
You can find out more about Client Money Protection and Money Shield at www.money-shield.co.uk.
About the author
Steve Harriott MA (Oxon), PGCE, MSc, FCIH is the Chief Executive of The Dispute Service Ltd. He has been Chief Executive since September 2010 and has worked as Chief Executive of three housing associations as well as chairing a housing association and a regeneration charity. He is currently also a Director at SafeDeposits Scotland, a Director of TDS Northern Ireland and a Director of the TDS Charitable Foundation.
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.
About Money Shield:
Money Shield is a Client Money Protection (CMP) scheme, available to all UK lettings and estate agents. It offers a straight-forward and cost-effective CMP solution, allowing agents to secure robust protection for their clients without membership of a professional body.
Money Shield is owned jointly by Propertymark and The Dispute Service (TDS), administered by Propertymark and operated in association with The Property Ombudsman (TPO). Money Shield is the trading name of Money Shield Ltd.
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.