Landlord wants deposit on renewal of tenancy

Hannahc1990x

Hello All

so we moved into our current rental property six months ago. We paid our deposit around 25th July and moved in on 25th August. Our landlord did not protect our deposit until end of September and we had several issues with him and the property. Landlord said he was going to serve us notice and paid our deposit back to us knowing he couldn’t serve it without paying it back due to late entry. We said we were going to sue him for late entry into the deposit scheme and we came to an agreement that we wouldn’t sue if he didn’t serve notice. 

So six months is up today and we have asked if he wants to renew the contract or keep on a rolling contract. The landlord has said he’s happy either way but wants us to pay our deposit again. 

Where do we stand on this? I think the landlord will serve has notice if we don’t pay but he failed at so many hurdles that his section 21 would never be valid. 

snowcat75

If the relationship between you and the LL has fallen apart, It would be prudent to move property's. Threating legal action from either party is never a great footing when by definition there is some good will needed by both party's. 

Although the LL may have been lapse and made it difficult if he/she has to evict through the courts, There are other things that can do to make your life difficult, like increasing rents as high as they dare to be in market value, using there right to only give 24hrs notice for access for inspections, taking max timescales for routine works...…. the list is endless.


If your served a s21 you have 2 months, and if it goes to court longer, take this time to find something better where you build a relationship with the LL or letting agent.

notrouble

* If the LL now serves a S21, it will be valid since he has returned the deposit (subject to the other validity criteria - see S21 checklist )

* if you want a new fixed contract, the terms will be whatever is agreed. So if he insists on a new deposit, either you agree, pay it and sign, or you refuse and don't sign.

* if you move to a periodic tenancy, no deposit need be paid. The LL can of course then choose whether or not to serve a S21, since a periodic tenancy gives him that flexibility.

* you have 6 years within which you can bring an action to claim the penalty for late registration of the deposit. Since the deposit was returned, the court would probably not award you the full 3 times penalty, but a lesser amount.

See:

* Ending/renewing an AST: what happens when a fixed term ends? How can a LL or tenant end a tenancy? What is a periodic tenancy?
* Deposits: payment, protection and return