Tenancy deposit scheme

AircraftHandler

Hi there I have had a friend move into my house & is renting it from me. She gave me the deposit & I gave it to my parents to look after for the last month. Is this illegal as I'm now reading that you have to place it in a tenancy deposit scheme?

Please advice what I should do & what company I should use?

Regards

xoAmyox

If you are a live-in landlord, then the tenancy is outside of the Housing Act, and therefore the tenancy deposit rules do not apply.

If you are not a live-in landlord you must protect the deposit within 30 days of receipt.

AircraftHandler

I'm not a live in landlord as I'm away with the military now.

theartfullodger

Next time get 2 copies of deposit signed by both tenant & landlord, with conditions for use of deposit in lodger agreement.

Oops!! Seen you are non resident - yes, get it protected & serve prescribed info ASAP & get proof you served it...

xoAmyox

In which case there are 3 different deposit protection schemes

mydeposits and TDS (insurance based where you keep the deposit yourself and protect through them)

or

DPS (custodial scheme where they hold the deposit)

Choose the one that suits and protect the deposit. Ensure the tenant is provided with the prescribed information and that you have proof that this was given to them.

Werdnal

You have 30 days from the start of the tenancy to protect the deposit, so get on with it PDQ.

If you are outside the 30 day deadline, the tenant can take you to court for return of the deposit and a suggested fine of 1-3x the deposit amount. Make sure you provide the tenant with the full prescribed information, as this is part and parcel of the full requirements of deposit protection.

Have you complied with the other requirements of being an overseas LL. I'm fairly sure the tax implications do not apply if you are serving in the UK military, but you do have to provide the tenant with an address in England or Wales for contacting you - that is a postal address, not just an email of phone number. You can use your parent's address for this as I assume you are not using an agent. Failure to provide address means the tenant can withhold rent until you do!

N79

Werdnal wrote: »

Have you complied with the other requirements of being an overseas LL. I'm fairly sure the tax implications do not apply if you are serving in the UK military,

Sadly they do (as far as rental income is concerned). The good news is that an operational posting will probably be short enough that you wont actually reach the threshold for split year treatment. However, longer overseas postings will trigger non residence status.

Werdnal wrote: »

but you do have to provide the tenant with an address in England or Wales for contacting you - that is a postal address, not just an email of phone number. You can use your parent's address for this as I assume you are not using an agent. Failure to provide address means the tenant can withhold rent until you do!

The OP does not say they are overseas - only away - which could well mean posted somewhere in England / Wales. OP - can you also confirm if this house is still your main address from which are temporarily absent (in which case there is the possibility that this person is a lodger) or whether your main address is a forces address?

tbs624

Werdnal wrote: »

You have 30 days from the start of the tenancy to protect the deposit, so get on with it PDQ.

My bolding For clarification, the LL has 30 days from *receipt of the T's deposit*

AircraftHandler

Thank you all for your help. I'm in the Navy & part of an operation now & it finishes in october.

With regards to the use of the companies is it a flat rate of £15 or do I have to join with a fee involved?

Regards

picklepick

Have you given your tenant a gas safety certificate?

AircraftHandler

Yes I have done the gas safety & epc so that is all sorted. As this is my first let I'm just unsure of what to do with the deposit