Landlord hasn't protected my deposit scheme, next steps?

ferrit44

Hi all,

Hoping you can help please.

I moved into a short term lease, rented accommodation back in January and paid a £850 deposit.

Despite a number of requests to the landlord via a mixture of email, phone calls and texts for the deposit protection scheme used, I have had no response and no further information sent to me. I've checked with all 3 schemes, and it would appear the landlord hasn't protected the deposit.

As I seem to be getting nowhere with this directly with the landlord, I am looking to take it further.

Can someone please advise what the next step would be in the process? Would it be a case of seeking legal advice, or a letter first to the landlord requesting my deposit be secured? If so, what kind of information should I include in the letter? I don't really want to word it in a way that's too forceful, but I do want some action as clearly my deposit should be secured!!

Any advice appreciated!

Thanks
Aaron

mrginge

First question is how long are you wanting to stay in the property for?

ferrit44

mrginge wrote: »

First question is how long are you wanting to stay in the property for?

Thanks for replying.

The tenancy is 6 months, so another 3 months remaining.

dimbo61

The LL is an idiot but what do you want to do ?
Now the landlord can not serve a valid S21 on you so cannot evict you if he/she has not protected the deposit.
Do you like the property? are you planning on staying 6 months or long term ?
Does the LL look after the property and sort out any problems?
Were you given a copy of the gas safety cert? and are the electrics safe? Was a detailed inventory done when you moved in ? and did you sign and keep a copy ?
You still have to pay the rent !!!

ferrit44

dimbo61 wrote: »

The LL is an idiot but what do you want to do ?
Now the landlord can not serve a valid S21 on you so cannot evict you if he/she has not protected the deposit.
Do you like the property? are you planning on staying 6 months or long term ?
Does the LL look after the property and sort out any problems?
Were you given a copy of the gas safety cert? and are the electrics safe? Was a detailed inventory done when you moved in ? and did you sign and keep a copy ?
You still have to pay the rent !!!

I quite like the property but to be honest, won't be looking to stay past the term as the location isn't ideal (i've just started a new job)

The Landlord, to be quite honest, is a bit of a joke. Took 2 months to sort a bunch of issues out, from things like the washing machine not working to the toilet leaking, also didn't have the keys to the windows that were all locked. This is why i've recently looked into whether my deposit is protected, as I can envisage there being issues when the tenancy is over (based on how poor they've been to date on responding to issues)

An inventory was done yes, I still have a copy.

No gas in the property, electric seem to be all ok (bar appliances)

I have been keeping up the rent

dimbo61

Contact Shelter or have a look on there website, You can also look on the DPS scheme websites and other websites about YOUR DEPOSIT.
The LL can be fined up to 3X the deposit for failing to register it but I have not heard of any LL being fined yet

G_M

ferrit44 wrote: »

Hi all,

...Despite a number of requests to the landlord via a mixture of email, phone calls and texts for the deposit protection scheme used, I have had no response and no further information sent to me. I've checked with all 3 schemes, and it would appear the landlord hasn't protected the deposit.

Aaron

The landlord is not acting properly - but nor are you!

Stop emailing, phoning & texting and write a letter Addressed to the landlord at the address provided to you for this exact purpose "for the serving of notices". It is probobly on your tenancy agreement.

Your choices:

1) do nothing. The LL can not evict you via a S21 Notice (he still can for rent arrears via S8) so you have increased security of tenure

2) Take him to court. You can claim 3 times the deposit as a penalty (see references below)

3) write giving him 5 days to register and then take him to court

4) Ask him to return your deposit in full within 5 days or you will take him to court

But whatever you decide, do it by letter and keep a copy.

Bear in mind all except i) above will p*ss him off so your LL/tenant relationship will be ruined (and any hope of a future good reference)

Deposits (Rules on deposit protection)

Localism Act 2011 (section 184 - updates to deposit scheme rules) Plain English explanation!

tim123456789

(3) is pointless as late registration will give the LL no rights at all, you mighty just as well move straight to (4).

Personally,

I would just not be paying the final month' rent (and tell him why when you do it) and let him keep the deposit instead

tim

G_M

tim123456789 wrote: »

(3) is pointless as late registration will give the LL no rights at all, you mighty just as well move straight to (4).

if it were the landlord seeking advice, this would be a valid point, but the OP is the tenant.

Option 3 is less confrontational than option 4 (if the letter is friendly but simply points out that court action could follow if LL fails to register. And obviously a time limit is always sensible when asking a LL to do something.)

LL may simply register in response.

True, LL still cannot issue a S21 (though is likely to receive a lower penalty for late registration than non registration if later taken to court), but the point is that from tenant's point of view

a) deposit is registered, giving acces to arbitration process and
b) relationship might be kept more amicable than going straight to court.

I do not offer a recomendation for any of the options. It is up to the OP to decide, and depands on their motives, the state of the relationship, the likely response by LL to each option etc....