The three tenancy deposit protection schemes between them are protecting 2.85m deposits worth nearly £3bn.

The figures, accurate as of March 31 this year, are released in a new briefing paper by Steve Harriott, chief executive of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme.

The paper says the average tenancy deposit is £1,006 and that nearly half (42%) of deposits represent over four weeks’ rent.

The paper also says that since 2007 – when mandatory deposit protection was implemented – there have been almost 117,000 adjudications.

Of these, 29% have resulted in a 100% award to the tenant, 15% in a 100% award to the landlord or agent, and 56% were split between the parties.

On average, fewer than one in 100 protected deposits (0.88%) end in a dispute.

The custodial scheme, the Deposit Protection Service, protects the most deposits at 1,105,619.

This is followed by the TDS, at 1,085,116, and Mydeposits with 644,802. The comparatively new DPS insured scheme protects 12,573 deposits. The figures relate to 2013-14.

So far, DPS Insured has had just 12 disputes, equating to a dispute rate of 0.10%.

The TDS has a dispute rate of 0.87%, while the DPS is lower at 0.81%. Mydeposits has the highest dispute rate, at 1.02%.