Tenancy Deposit Scheme is the latest player in the private rental sector to launch online tools to help letting agents cope with the Fees Ban.

TDS has introduced a Deposit Cap Calculator, Deposit Cap Resource Centre, and automatic deposit change solution for its Custodial scheme; it says they are the first tools to calculate the permitted deposit and to reduce the deposit in the Custodial scheme, and amend the protected amount in the Insured scheme.

TDS’ suite of information and tools includes an online Deposit Cap Calculator. As well as being free to use, the calculator is also available for letting agents to embed in their own websites.

The not-for-profit deposit protection scheme has also created a dedicated Deposit Cap Resource Centre, hosting a suite of information on the incoming changes.

The Resource Centre includes the Deposit Cap Calculator, a graphical timeline, example scenarios, guides, information and other tools to help provide clarity on how the Deposit Cap will affect letting agents and landlords and how to reduce the deposit they hold whether they use TDS’ Insured or Custodial scheme.

Rebecca Johnston, managing director of TDS Custodial, says: “One of the most common issues we’re seeing among landlords and letting agents is how the five weeks’ rent could be miscalculated, meaning some could inadvertently be caught on the wrong side of the law come June. It’s not simply a case of one and a quarter months’ rent. That’s why we’ve created our Deposit Cap Calculator.”