Risky business as landlords ignore tenancy deposit law

Published: 10/06/2013

Landlords who fail to comply with the government’s tenancy deposit protection law are putting themselves at risk, warns GW LET solicitor Rob Denman.

Stringent regulations, first introduced in April 2007 and amended in April 2012, mean a landlord must protect the tenant’s deposit by placing it into a government approved deposit protection scheme. They must also supply the tenant with prescribed information within a 30-day deadline.

However it is believed that many landlords are flouting these laws after a survey of 4000 tenants by Shelter revealed almost one in ten knew their deposit was not in an official scheme.

By failing to comply with these laws, landlords could find themselves unable to evict a tenant and even allow the tenant to bring a claim against them. Rob Denman explains how:

“Landlords who do not follow tenancy deposit protection law are leaving themselves exposed.

“Should the landlord wish to evict the tenant they can by serving a Section 21 Notice at any point during the fixed term of the tenancy provided that the date on which the notice expires is the last day of the fixed term tenancy or the end of a period of a periodic tenancy.

“However if the tenant’s deposit has not been properly protected and/or the prescribed information has not been supplied within the 30-day deadline any Section 21 Notices served on the tenant are, in fact, invalid.

“In addition to this, if the deposit is not protected and/or the prescribed information has not been supplied to the tenant in line with the deadline, a tenant is able to bring a claim against the landlord for up to three times the amount of the deposit. By failing to comply with this law a landlord has no defence against such a claim.”

Content correct at time of publication