Bristol-based government-approved deposits scheme DPS now holds 1.8 million tenants’ deposits after starting up in 2007, the company behind it has revealed.

Other somewhat staggering figures from the Computershare data vaults including that the scheme has protected deposits worth £7.14 billion over the past 15 years, during which it has fielded seven million phone calls and handled two million documents.

It has also trained 10,000 landlords and letting agents on how to correctly protect deposits – something Purplebricks could have benefitted from after it was revealed that the firm had served deposit paperwork to several thousand tenants incorrectly, exposing it to potential fines running into millions of pounds.

One of the original DPS team from the scheme’s launch day is also now its MD.

Watershed moment

Matt Trevett (main picture), says the government’s decision to bring in regulation of tenant deposits, which had become a political hot potato after some agents and landlords were found to have handled deposit unfairly or dishonestly, was a ‘watershed moment’ for the industry.

“The private rented sector has seen significant changes during the last 15 years, including the increased digitisation of the deposit and repayment process to meet round-the-clock demand,” he says.

“However, the core principle of free, easy-to-use deposit protection during a tenancy’s lifetime remains as vital now as in 2007.

“During the decade and a half that has passed since we started, DPS has continuously honed our role safeguarding and repaying billions of pounds worth of deposits back to tenants while also enabling landlords and tenants to link repayment to a property’s condition at the end of a tenancy.”

Read more about deposits.