Landlord not returning deposit after not protecting it properly

kbubbles61

Hi everyone,

Hoping someone can help me as feeling overwhelmed by all the information online! I have recently moved out of a property on an AST tenancy. My landlord has responded about the deposit saying they won't be returning any of it and that we in fact owe them around £1000 on top (but kindly offered a discount if we don't dispute!). 

There were 2 of us there for three years and we renewed the tenancy and signed a new AST on a yearly basis (also paid top ups on the deposit yearly as the rent increased). They have sent over pictures of very small chips/scuffs on walls and there is nothing in there that I believe is above fair wear and tear so I have disputed.

However, doing some further digging I have discovered that they didn't protect our deposit for the first and second year (checked all the schemes) and then did on the final year but didn't sign the certificate, send any prescribed information and only sent it to me and not my flatmate. We also never received a Gas Safety Certificate or How to Rent Guide.

I'm just wondering what my next steps could be and if I should pursue compensation on the two years the deposit wasn't protected? Or if anyone has any advise?

RAS

Please get together with your old flatmates if possible.

Were you renting on an annual base as a shared tenancy or did the LL issue separate tenancies to each of you? Were the same people renting in all three years.

You can sue for the return of the deposit plus up to three times as a penalty. Depending on the set-up this could be quite expensive for the LL.

Although I recently saw an article about the LL who was fined because he owed £100k in unreturned deposits.

FlorayG

I don't know the details of how to do it, but you are certainly 100% in the right and probably can claim compensation from the landlord. Any landlord stupid enough to not properly protect the deposit deserves any trouble they get, it's a very clear requirement.
Was a gas inspection and boiler service done and you didn't see the certificate? Or was it not even done? Presumably the landlord would have had to make an appointment with you for the engineer to have access? Is there a current electrical safety certificate on the property?
These people are what give landlords a bad name. They've 'offered a discount if you don't dispute' because they've probably just realised what a mess they've let themself into

kbubbles61

Thanks both - there were two of us on the same agreement for the three years. The rent went up each year so we signed a new AST each year and paid the difference in deposit to the landlord each year. 

I've read online we can sue for each year it wasn't done as we signed a new tenancy agreement each year. I just wonder if there is a separate thing to the deposit dispute or if I should pursue both at the same time?  

As far as I'm aware nothing was done re Gas/Electricity or if it was I never saw a certificate, the sticker on the fuse box was 5 years out of date!

FlorayG

kbubbles61 said:

As far as I'm aware nothing was done re Gas/Electricity or if it was I never saw a certificate, the sticker on the fuse box was 5 years out of date!

That is a serious breach of the law and the landlord could be prosecuted. Whatever you do remember you absolutely have the upper hand.

theartfullodger

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/tenancy_deposits/what_to_do_about_an_unprotected_tenancy_deposit

RAS

Electrical Safety assessments have to be done at no more than 5 year intervals.

Gas is to be checked every 10-12 months. Do you have CO monitors in any room, other than the kitchen, which has a gas appliance? I believe you may be able to check on-line if tests were done but not shared.

You and the other tenant need to work in concert regarding the deposit, or they could give you power of attorney to take action against the LL.

You have 6 years to take action, so I'd suggest that you start by seeing if there is a private tenancy officer at the local council. They may know your LL any way, or you may be able to alert them to an on-going issue. Beyond that, check Shelter's website. 

You may want to write to the LL, a letter before action, once you know if the absence of safety certificates complicate matters, from the LLs point of view.

There'll certainly be threads here regarding the issue. I think one LL who thought she'd made a simple mistake ended up paying back 2x the deposit for each year. 

Voyager2002

RAS said:

You have 6 years to take action, so I'd suggest that you start by seeing if there is a private tenancy officer at the local council. They may know your LL any way, or you may be able to alert them to an on-going issue. Beyond that, check Shelter's website.

There are strict time limits on claims relating to the failure to protect a deposit once the tenant has left the property.

There is no time to waste: the best place to start is the Shelter website.

Note that there is a separate "legal" section to the Shelter website which includes all the detail of the law that is needed in order to make a successful claim.

kbubbles61

Thanks all. I have been on Shelter, but just finding it more complicated as the deposit is protected now but wasn't protected for the the first two years (I'm treating each year as a separate tenancy as we signed new ASLs each year), but this year they haven't included all the information they should have. 

Currently reaching out to the deposit schemes to get proof it wasn't registered on any of them!

RAS

In the MSE case I cited, the LL had realised their mistake and had taken action to register the deposit late. That did not prevent the judge awarding penalties for all years. In that case, the LL assumed that because the tenancy rolled over, the deposit registration also rolled over. But that didn't happen with the scheme they'd chosen.

Bookworm105

kbubbles61 said:

Thanks all. I have been on Shelter, but just finding it more complicated as the deposit is protected now but wasn't protected for the the first two years (I'm treating each year as a separate tenancy as we signed new ASLs each year), but this year they haven't included all the information they should have. 

Currently reaching out to the deposit schemes to get proof it wasn't registered on any of them!

obvious course of action is to dispute the claimed deductions through the scheme that the current deposit is registered with since you say they are all unfair

if on the other hand you think you will lose so see your better course of action as claiming for non protection that is a different matter.