As a result of recent case law, Parliament has changed the rules for landlords who let properties on Assured Shorthold Tenancies. Before this, a tenant’s deposit payable under some tenancies made before 6 April 2007 did not have to be registered with an approved deposit scheme. However it has been decided to protect all deposits and if you still have a tenancy starting before that date, the deposit will now need to be registered with a Tenant Deposit Scheme before 23 June 2015.
Failure to do this will mean that the landlord:
- Must refund the deposit to the tenant
- Will have difficulty in regaining possession if it wants to terminate the tenancy
- Faces the risk that significant financial penalties will be imposed by the Court.
The deposit schemes can be accessed from these links:
http://www.depositprotection.com/
http://www.thedisputeservice.co.uk/
For advice please contact Mark Barrett at our Commercial Dept.
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