AST to statutory periodic query

N79

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

Well they want me to pay the admin fee without seeing the new contract which I think is a bit cheeky.

I've also just confirmed that My Deposits don't cover periodic tenancies. I think tenants should be given the choice of which scheme their money is held in, so they know about potential issues like this in advance.

Why - the rules of My Deposits are your LL's problem, not yours. You can have a periodic tenancy irrespective of My Deposits' rules.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

N79 wrote: »

Why - the rules of My Deposits are your LL's problem, not yours. You can have a periodic tenancy irrespective of My Deposits' rules.

Because it's "impossible" apparently, ie the agent has a deal with that particular scheme I guess.

It's hard to shake off the feeling that you are labelling yourself "difficult" by going against their wishes, and creating potential ill will in case of future issues, and specifically references. Irrational and hard to explain, probably a result of middle class upbringing and making a scene being frowned upon!

N79

I know what you mean but don't feel bad about being difficult - you may find that the LA respects you more.

In reality the agent (or possibly the LL) has chosen that scheme and bought this problem on themeselves so I would give them no sympathy. There is nothing stopping them moving the deposit to the DPS. All in all, they are not being very clever but then very little (nothing) about English deposit protection implementation is clever - the more we see it in operation the more it is clear that it has been botched from the beginning.

adg1

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

They did state that it's "impossible" for them to do Statutory Periodic, as the deposit scheme they use (My Deposits) can only offer protection to those on ASTs.

Codswhallop. What a great word. The deposit will remain protected, essentially, for ever, or until the LL or agent acting on behalf of the LL instructs it to be released when the tenants move out.

To the best of my knowledge the only charge is the initial registration fee from mydeposits.co.uk, whether the contract is an AST or has lapsed into a statutory periodic.

Hope that helps.

Fire_Fox

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

Well, I just spoke to the agent- I was reassured that the new renewal will continue on the current terms of notice (ie not locked in for another 6 months). They did state that it's "impossible" for them to do Statutory Periodic, as the deposit scheme they use (My Deposits) can only offer protection to those on ASTs.

My inclination is to pay the fee for peace of mind, but investigate this claim as I think it may be misleading.

Well they want me to pay the admin fee without seeing the new contract which I think is a bit cheeky.

I've also just confirmed that My Deposits don't cover periodic tenancies. I think tenants should be given the choice of which scheme their money is held in, so they know about potential issues like this in advance.

If you sign a new AST you will be locked in for a minimum of six months, as that is the law. The landlord has a legal responsibility to ensure your deposit is protected, the letting agent chooses to use MyDeposits so they need to thrash this out between them. You have the right to go onto a periodic tenancy and the letting agent are trying to deny you this right with half truths, highly unprofessional. Use the broken record technique.

G_M

They did state that it's "impossible" for them to do Statutory Periodic, as the deposit scheme they use (My Deposits) can only offer protection to those on ASTs.

More rubbish! A statutory periodic Tenancy is still an AST. It's just a periodic AST instead of a fixed term AST.

Registering your deposit is the LL's responsibility and problem, not yours.

If you don't want to sign a new fixed term AST, don't!

chucknorris

G_M wrote: »

More rubbish! A statutory periodic Tenancy is still an AST. It's just a periodic AST instead of a fixed term AST.

Registering your deposit is the LL's responsibility and problem, not yours.

If you don't want to sign a new fixed term AST, don't!

Thanks, I'm glad you said that. I was wondering if I had broken the rules/law as my tenant's deposits are with MyDeposits and they are nearly all periodic now. I thought that I had looked into it at the time, but was concerned when I read some of the posts above it appeared as if my tenant's deposit protection had lapsed.

Jac_Raven

I am an agent who uses My Deposits. In respect of AST renewals/ periodic tenancies they say this:

If a new fixed term AST agreement is signed this would require a new Deposit Protection with our Scheme.

You should Unprotect the previous agreement, selecting the Unprotection reason as 'Renewal of Tenancy', and then make a new Protection with the details of the new AST agreement. The Landlord should then provide their Tenant/s with a signed copy of the new Deposit Protection Certificate and the Information for Tenants leaflet.

If however, the initial fixed term AST agreement runs into a 'Statutory Periodic' then the original Protection will stay in place until you advise us to Unprotect it.

so your deposit is still protected under the original registration for the AST. If your agent is suggesting otherwise he needs to check the site

To be honest i think its a bit cheeky for My Deposits to charge again when a renewal takes place (and yes I know agents charge renewal fees on tenancies).

Also i would imagine that even if you go onto a periodic tenancy the agent will still charge the Landlord commission for you staying on, just on a pro rata basis depending on how long you stay. I don't know about a admin fee for contract renewal, we don't charge tenants for that, although i suspect a lot of agents would.

i'm not sure i agree with the suggestion an agent should register with all 3 of the protection schemes to allow the tenant a choice, that would be a lot of additional work for the agent, would would then just result in costs to the tenants/landlord going up.

i also suspect that at some point the schemes will have to be altered, they are so laughably biased towards the tenants at the moment (as in no cost to bring a dispute not matter how frivolous,) it looks like one of the schemes (TDS) may end up going bust.

franklee

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

I've also just confirmed that My Deposits don't cover periodic tenancies. I think tenants should be given the choice of which scheme their money is held in, so they know about potential issues like this in advance.

Did you ask them what happens if a tenancy goes periodic? Only there is nothing to stop a tenancy going periodic if the tenant doesn't leave on time, this must be a regular occurrence. Therefore My Deposits must have some way of dealing with it.

If the deposit just becomes unprotected when the fixed term ends then I'd suggest the LL is in breach of the legislation.

EDIT: Ah ha common sense from Jac Raven

DVardysShadow

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

Well they want me to pay the admin fee without seeing the new contract which I think is a bit cheeky.

I've also just confirmed that My Deposits don't cover periodic tenancies. I think tenants should be given the choice of which scheme their money is held in, so they know about potential issues like this in advance.

How did you confirm that? Not with the Agent I hope. Never confirm the legal position with the Agent.

Thankfully, Jac Raven has posted the facts