Deposit not protected by current housing agency

stresstress1234

Hi everyone,

We moved into our current property back in 2017 when it was managed by Agency A. At the time, we received confirmation that our deposit was securely held in a deposit protection scheme (let’s call it A1).

Later, our landlord switched to Agency B, and they informed us via email that they intended to transfer our deposit to the deposit scheme they use (we’ll call it B1). Naturally, we assumed this process would be handled properly, given that they are a professional agency.

Fast forward to now – we were issued a Section 21 notice in July 2024, and a possession order was granted last week. Today, while reviewing everything, we discovered that our deposit was never actually transferred to Agency B’s B1 scheme. After calling B1, they confirmed that they have no record of our deposit. It turns out our deposit is still with Agency A’s A1 scheme, even though they no longer manage the property.

This raises a big concern for us – how can an agency that no longer manages our tenancy still be holding our deposit? What are our rights here, and is the landlord or Agency B at fault for not ensuring the transfer was completed?

We’d really appreciate any advice on how to handle this situation moving forward.

Thanks in advance!

anselld

You can still process your deposit return through the A1 scheme if that is where it is held.  It is still protected so there is no problem legally.

stresstress1234

Does it invalidate the original section 21?

Shelter said A1 should have transferred our deposit to B1 when they ceased to manage our property.

anselld

stresstress1234 said:

Does it invalidate the original section 21?

Shelter said A1 should have transferred our deposit to B1 when they ceased to manage our property.

The deposit remains protected so no reason why it should invalidate the s21.  Besides it is too late to challenge the validity of the s21 if possession has already been granted.
Yes it should have been transferred but it makes no difference to your situation as far as I can see.  If Shelter think otherwise then take their advice.

stresstress1234

Thank you

saajan_12

stresstress1234 said:

Does it invalidate the original section 21?

Shelter said A1 should have transferred our deposit to B1 when they ceased to manage our property.

No. Your contract is with the LL, so as long as there is *someone* protecting the deposit on the LL's behalf throughout your tenancy, that's all that's needed. 

When it comes to getting your deposit back, you can just claim back from the deposit scheme (regardless of who is on the other side). If A1 isn't interested and B1 doesn't ahve access to respond then it might even work out in your favour. 

PRAISETHESUN

The fact that it is protected with the A1 scheme isn't really an issue as you are still able to dispute any deductions as/when you move out of the property. It might be annoying from an admin perspective of B1, given it's not their preferred scheme, but at the end of the day your LL has arranged for your deposit to be protected, which is all that is required. It definitely won't invalidate your S21, but I'd still be checking if there's anything else that A1 or B1 haven't done that might invalidate it on other grounds.

EDIT: just read that possession has already been granted, so the argument of is it protected or not is more or less irrelevant. When you move out of the property you simply request it back in full from the A1 scheme. If there are any disputes, then that is the scheme that will arbitrate.