HC Deb 10 November 2003 vol 413 cc163-4W
Mr. Caton

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what percentage of private landlords in England and their agents have participated in the voluntary tenancy deposit scheme. [137107]

Keith Hill

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry, South on 22 October 2002,Official Report, column 564W.

Mr. Caton

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what discussions members of his Department have held with representatives of the Welsh Assembly Government on extending the voluntary tenancy deposit scheme to Wales. [137108]

Keith Hill

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has not discussed with the Welsh Assembly extending the pilot Tenancy Deposit Scheme. Since it has been a voluntary scheme, it is for the Assembly to decide if it should wish to implement a similar scheme in Wales.

Mr. Caton

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the voluntary tenancy deposit scheme in England. [137109]

Keith Hill

The University of York evaluated the pilot Tenancy Deposit Scheme. This was published in December 2002 in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister report "An Evaluation of the Pilot Tenancy Deposit Scheme".

Mr. Caton

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) what plans he has to introduce legislation to govern deposits made to landlords by tenants; [137110]

(2) if he will introduce a statutory tenancy deposit scheme to (a) hold deposit moneys and (b) independently resolve disputes between landlord and tenant at the end of a tenancy. [137112]

Keith Hill

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister intends to meet the Law Commission and stakeholders later this year, to discuss the possibility of legislating for the protection of tenancy moneys in connection with the Law Commission's work on tenure reform.

Mr. Caton

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the extent to which private landlords unjustifiably withhold deposits paid by tenants. [137111]

Keith Hill

The Survey of English Housing has for several years asked tenants about what happened to the deposit for the tenancy they had left most recently. The survey has consistently reported that up to 20 per cent. of tenants considered that the withholding of their deposits, either in part or in full, had to some extent been unreasonable. These figures are, of course, based on tenant perception, and on any objective test, such as independent adjudication, a lower figure of unjustified withholding might be expected.