Letting agents can now take advantage of a free mediation and conciliation service originally set up for landlords and tenants.

TDS Resolution offers a fair, impartial dispute resolution, and will enable agents to reach a mutual agreement when there is a dispute with tenants.

The service helps with disputes such as property standards, repairs, rent arrears, threatened evictions, breach of tenancy terms and anti-social behaviour.

Agents will need to be members of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, which TDS Resolution is linked to, and receive consent from the landlord to act on their behalf.

Within five working days of raising an issue, someone will get in touch to let an agent know if the case is being taken forward.

If the other party is willing to engage, TDS Resolution will contact them and then either arrange an online or telephone mediation, or speak to each party to resolve the matter within 10 working days.

Settlement agreement

The mediation will be tailored to the needs of the parties, and if a satisfactory resolution is achieved, both parties will receive a settlement agreement.

If the mediation is not successful, both parties can request a certificate noting the attempt to mediate.

Sanam Khan, Head of Resolution Operations (main pic), said: “Through this service, parties can avoid the need to go through costly and lengthy court proceedings, allowing tenancies to continue without interruption.

“We are delighted to be able to extend our services to our TDS member agents, allowing them to use us to help resolve mid tenancy disputes promptly and efficiently.”

Steve Harriott, Group CEO of TDS, added: “Early resolution is a key element of our tenancy deposit dispute resolution activity. In 2021-22, we were able to resolve 3,902 disputes without the need for formal adjudication.

“We have the skills to help landlords and tenants with their in-tenancy disputes, and we hope that letting agents and their landlords and tenants will value this additional support to help make their lives easier.”

For more information on TDS Resolution, visit tdsresolution.co.uk.