Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the news release entitled Nationwide highlights lottery of experiences on private tenancy deposits - and calls for more pragmatic approach, published by Nationwide Building Society on 20 October, what plans his Department has to ensure that deposits are returned in an efficient and timely manner as a result of that organisation's finding that 18 per cent of tenants wait more than three months for deposit returns.

Under the Housing Act 2004, all deposits taken with assured shorthold tenancies since 6 April 2007 must be protected in a Government-approved tenancy deposit scheme within 30 days. In the vast majority of cases the deposit can be returned promptly as the landlord and tenant are able to agree deductions from the deposit. Deposits should be returned within 10 days of the tenant requesting it if held in the insured scheme, and within 10 days of the landlord and tenant agreeing deductions in the custodial scheme. It can take longer if they cannot agree and need to use the free dispute resolutions services provided by the deposit schemes. Only 1.5 per cent of cases go to formal dispute. The YouGov survey referenced in the news release asked about the worst experience tenants had ever had and so is not representative of the normal experience for tenants.

The current system works well but we are reviewing whether improvements can be made to the deposit protection model through the Tenancy Deposit Protection Working Group. Nationwide is a member of the Working Group which will look at the process at the end of tenancy and dispute resolution, as well as exploring whether deposit passporting can improve affordability by helping tenants who have to pay a deposit to their new landlord before they receive their current deposit back.