Deposit return and end of tenancy - who gets the interest?

Loose_Cannon

MSE newbie here - hope you good people can help!

I have just terminated a 2 year tenancy on a rented property, and want to know if I have any legal claim over the interest that has inevitably accumulated on my deposit. My specific facts are:

• Tenancy began 20th May 2006 (so before the Tenancy Deposit Scheme began)
• Deposit amount was £1,560 (6 weeks' rent)
• Never missed a rental payment
• Tenancy ended on 19th May 2008
• Check out inventory was perfect, and the letting agents have not proposed any deductions against the deposit
• Rental contract contains the following Clause 6.6: "The Deposit shall be placed in a nominated Deposit account with any interest accruing thereto" - but does not specify to whom this interest is payable
• When dealing with letting agents during check-out, I asked by phone what the interest rate was (a fairly pitiful 2%, but better than nothing), and what this made the total sum (I was told that they "didn't know how to work out compound interest, but the finance department will sort that out"). Incidentally, 2% compounded for 2 years gives a total of approx £1,623
• The answers to those questions implied that the interest was payable to me
• Letting agent has returned £1,560 to my bank account
• I have queried the missing £63 pounds and have been told "After reading through your tenancy agreement, there were no clauses mentioning an interest return."

However, the combination of Clause 6.6 and the phone discussion gave me the expectation that the interest was due to me. Is this expectation reasonable? If so, can anybody tell me what my rights are in this situation? If the expectation is unreasonable, why? And who gets to keep the accrued interest if not me?

Thanks!

JimmyTheWig

I think that it's entirely reasonable to suggest you get the interest. That's got to be implied by clause 6.6. Otherwise, why would the interest have to be kept in the account?

Loose_Cannon

Thanks, Jimmy, that was my line of reasoning too. Does anybody know of some legal loophole I'm not aware of that would allow the agents to keep the interest?