D-Day for the rise in the threshold to £100,000 for Assured Shorthold Tenancies in England is less than a month away. And to assist with the change, the Tenancy Deposit Scheme has issued detailed guidance notes for registration of these tenancies from October 1 to help avoid the prospect of legal action against agents and their landlords.

The guidance takes account of the opinions of the Dept of Communities and Local Government, DCLG, that the increase in the threshold will affect new tenancies and tenancies that are renewed, or where a new deposit is taken after October 1; and that existing tenancies with a rental value of between £25,000 and £100,000 a year should also be registered.

As well as registering the tenancies with a rental value up to the new threshold, tenants also must be provided with the same legally prescribed information and tenancy clauses in agreements as they would expect with all other ASTs.

The Tenancy Deposit Scheme will continue to provide dispute resolution arising from existing non-AST tenancies where the tenancy agreements and terms of business contain clauses from the Tenancy Deposit Scheme for Regulated Agents, TDSRA.

TDSRA, itself, will cease to operate on October 1st as the TDS believes resources should be focused on disputes that fall under the deposit protection legislation. However, the Independent Case Examiner may agree to resolve disputes over the allocation of deposits relating to non-ASTs that are created or renewed after October 1st.

The new TDS Guidance Notes for the increased rent threshold and for dealing with non- Assured Shorthold Tenancies take account of the latest views of the DCLG. These Notes are available under Frequently Asked Questions at the TDS website, www.thedisputeservice.co.uk