TDS Resolution [an association between the Dispute Service and the National Residential Landlords Association – NRLA] is extending the remit of its service to cover a much wider range of landlord and tenant disputes.
TDS Resolution was originally launched in July 2020 to help landlords and tenants resolve rent arrears issues through mediation and facilitate agreements for suitable rent arrears repayment plans. The experience of this scheme is that cases are being referred to it far too late, which means that not much can be done to agree a suitable rent reduction plan.
So, building on work done to date by TDS Resolution, the service is about to expand to cover a wider range of landlord-tenant disputes and hopefully deal with these much earlier so there is a greater chance of securing a successful resolution.
This extended offering will be a conciliation/mediation service, meaning experienced dispute resolution staff employed by TDS Resolution will play an active role in trying to resolve landlord-tenant disputes.
The Dispute Service and the NRLA have a longstanding relationship and the decision to launch this enlarged service is an important step in cementing the already strong relationship.
From 1st April 2021, the extended service will be free of charge and accept referrals from tenants as well as landlords. The move to a free service comes in the continuing COVID-19 pandemic which has left both landlords and tenants in difficult financial circumstances.
Steve Harriott, CEO of the Dispute Service said:
“TDS Resolution has made great strides since its launch in helping parties reach suitable rent arrears repayment plans. The Dispute Service has always been committed to raising standards in the Private Rented Sector and making peoples’ lives easier. The extension of the service, to cover a wider range of landlord and tenant disputes, is an important step in achieving our goal. The service will also provide useful evidence to back up the NRLA’s call for a National Conciliation Service to deal with these types of disputes across England and Wales”.
The extended service will focus on dealing with disputes in the following areas:
- Property standards
- Repairs
- Entry rights
- Rent arrears
- Threatened evictions
- Breach of tenancy terms
- Noise/Anti-social behaviour (except serious anti-social activity)
Welcoming this initiative Ben Beadle, CEO of the NRLA said:
“We welcome the introduction of this pilot, which the NRLA believes can go a long way towards putting conciliation firmly at the heart of landlord-tenant relationship. Conciliation is a key element of the NRLA’s Renters’ Reform Bill proposals and it is our view that with the Renters’ Reform Bill rapidly approaching there is a pressing need for a more efficient system, which provides easy, convenient access to resolving disputes for landlords and tenants alike.”
Further information can be found on the website at: https://www.thedisputeservice.com/tdsresolution
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 provides fair adjudication for disputes that arise over the tenancy deposits that we protect.
You can protect your tenancy deposits for free with TDS via the NRLA here.
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.
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