There were more than 4.1 million tenancy deposits in England and Wales at the end of March 2020, up from 3.9 million the year before but disputes fell slightly.
Figures compiled by The Dispute Service show that despite the rise of deposit protections, there were 34,993 disputes in the year to March 2020 compared to 35,513 the previous year.
This year, the rate of disputes compared to deposits protected stands at 0.84 per cent in England and Wales. It is also less than 1 per cent in Northern Ireland (0.94 per cent) but in Scotland the rate last year (latest figure) was 2.79 per cent.
Cleaning is again the most common reason for disputes across the whole of the UK followed by damage and redecoration. The most disputes for cleaning were in Scotland with 69 per cent compared to 45 per cent in Northern Ireland and 42 per cent in England and Wales.
Disputes over damage were fairly even at 41 per cent in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 42 per cent in Scotland.
Rent arrears disputes were higher in Northern Ireland at 24 per cent compared to 14 per cent in England and Wales and 15 per cent in Scotland.
| Dispute | England and Wales | Northern Ireland | Scotland |
| Cleaning | 42 per cent | 45 per cent | 69 per cent |
| Damage | 41 per cent | 41 per cent | 42 per cent |
| Redecoration | 39 per cent | 28 per cent | 21 per cent |
| Gardening | 23 per cent | 12 per cent | 9 per cent |
| Rent arrears | 14 per cent | 24 per cent | 15 per cent |
Statistics also show that the number of households living in the private rented sector continues to increase across England and Wales, with small drops recorded in Scotland and Northern Ireland in 2018.
In England the size of the private rented sector is significantly greater than that of the social housing sector.
Of the cases submitted to TDS, 74 per cent of disputes in England and Wales were raised by tenants compared to 67.4 per cent in the previous year, with 19 per cent raised by the agent and 7 per cent by the landlord.
Northern Ireland
The private rented sector is slightly smaller in size than social housing in Northern Ireland but numbers have risen significantly over the years, from 37,000 in 2001 to 119,000 in 2018.
There has been an increase in protected tenancy deposits with 17,544 protected in March 2014 to 60,613 protected in March 2020.
The number of disputes rose to 568 in 2019-20, up from 556 the year before putting the rate of disputes at 0.94 per cent.
Scotland
The number of PRS homes in Scotland has soared over the years, from 173,000 in 2001 to 371,000 in 2018.
There has been an increase in protected tenancy deposits, rising from 116,839 protected in March 2013 to 221,834 in March 2020.
Dispute numbers increased to 6,139 in March 2019, which is a rate of 2.79 per cent. The 2020 figures are not yet available.
