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A tenancy deposit protection scheme has warned landlords they must provide sufficient evidence if they want to keep hold of a tenant’s deposit.

Mydeposits.co.uk has warned those who are running a rental property, and find tenants have damaged their property at the end of a tenancy could end up digging deep into their own pockets – this is because they do not have enough evidence to justify withholding all or some of the deposit.

Under new legislation, tenants can now dispute any deposits withheld from them. If the landlord cannot provide evidence of damage or mess, tenancy deposit protection schemes will often have no choice but to find in favour of the tenant.

Figures from mydeposits.co.uk for the third quarter of 2008 show that out of 125 disputes, tenants received all or part of their deposit back 91% of the time.

David Salusbury, chairman of mydeposits.co.uk, says: "Landlords must take some simple steps to show any deductions are justified and proportionate. Preparing an agreed inventory with the tenant will provide evidence of any damage to the property or furniture, while bank statements can be used to highlight non-payment of rent. Photographic records can also be useful, as can any exchanges of correspondence.”

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