Be aware all those landlords out there of the new rule changes relating to deposits- they have in fact eased the rules a bit in some ways…

Amendments to the Tenancy Deposit Protection Rules will come into force soon.

Under the auspices of the Localism Act 2011 the government, following much controversy and several court cases over the Tenancy Deposit Protection rules in the Housing Act 2004, have introduced several proposed rule changes.

One of the main changes proposed is the extension of the 14 days allowed to protect a deposit and serve the prescribed notice on the tenant to 30 days. In practice it was found that 14 days was too short a period for many landlords and agents to deal with this and in cases which came to court judges were allowing some leeway for “administrative oversight”, consequently this will no longer be the case.

Under the new rules tenants will have the right to go straight to a county court to force landlords to comply fully with their obligations under the Act as above, if they have not done so within 30 days.

Landlords will no longer be allowed to retrospectively protect a deposit after a tenancy has ended in order to comply with the 2004 Act, but will be ordered to repay it (or an agreed part of it) direct to the tenant.

Currently a landlord fined for failure to comply pays three times the amount of the deposit, and returns the deposit. Under the new rules the Judge will have more discretion, to award not less than the amount of the deposit and not more than three times that amount.

Section 215 of the Housing Act is amended to clarify the section 21 notice rules, which means the possession procedure cannot be used where a deposit has not been protected within the 30 day period. The only remedies to this are that (1) the deposit be returned to the tenant in full or part with any deductions agreed, and (2) an application to the county court under section 214 has been made and has been withdrawn or settled between the parties.

These rules are due to come into force after 12 April 2012.

If you need any further expert landlord and tenant advice contact us at TM Law for our expertise in dealing with these matters