HOW YOU ARE PROTECTED

1 Why should the government protect tenants' deposits?

So that, when a tenant pays a deposit, and he or she is entitled to get all or part of it back at the end of the tenancy, the tenant can be assured that this will happen.

2 How can tenants find out if their deposit is protected after 6 April 2007?

Within 14 days of receiving a deposit, landlords will have to provide tenants with details of which government-authorised scheme is protecting the deposit. The scheme will be able to confirm if the deposit is protected.

3 What if a tenant moves out of their home before realising that their deposit hasn't been protected?

The tenant will need to apply for a court order and the court will order the landlord to repay the deposit amount to the tenant. There are also penalties for the landlord.

To avoid this situation, tenants should make sure that their landlord has given them the prescribed information relating to the scheme that is safeguarding their deposit, and check that the deposit is safeguarded, within 14 days of paying the deposit.

4 I am party to a Joint Tenancy Agreement. Is my individual portion of the deposit I paid to the landlord/agent protected?

Tenancy Deposit Solutions treats all deposits paid under a Joint Tenancy Agreement (JTA) as a single protected deposit. All parties subject to the JTA will be noted on the Deposit Protect Certificate although their individual contributions to the overall deposit will not. The scheme will require the landlord/agent to nominate one party subject to the JTA to act as Lead Tenant. This should be done in consultation with all tenants. The Scheme will primarily deal with the Lead Tenant on all matters concerning the protection of the deposit and any dispute that may arise at the end of the tenancy.

Should any of the tenants party to the JTA leave (or the Lead Tenant change) then the Scheme should be notified of the change by the landlord or agent. A new Deposit Protection Certificate will automatically be issued by the Scheme and sent to the Lead Tenant. Common practice dictates that when one party subject to the JTA leaves the property then the party’s deposit is repaid to the outgoing tenants by the new incoming tenant, thus leaving the original deposit amount protected. The scheme will not deal with deposit disputes between tenant parties.

5 What happens if my landlord does not protect my deposit?

Membership of a tenancy deposit scheme is mandatory to all landlords who take a deposit. Those who take a deposit but don’t join an accredited tenancy deposit protection scheme will face the following penalties for non compliance:

a) Unable to use ‘notice only’

Currently, a landlord can regain possession of the property after the first six months of an AST, providing any fixed term has expired and the tenant has been given at least two months’ written notice (under Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988). This right to repossession using the usual ‘notice only grounds’ will be lost if the deposit has not been safeguarded in an authorised scheme and the prescribed information passed onto the tenant within 14 days.

b) Fine

Tenants can apply for a court order requiring the deposit to be safeguarded and the prescribed information about the scheme in which it is held to be supplied, or to return the deposit to the tenant. Where the court believes the landlord has failed to comply with these requirements, or the deposit is not being held in an authorised scheme, the court will either order the landlord within 14 days to repay the deposit, or to pay the deposit into the scheme. The court will also fine the landlord three times the deposit amount, payable to the tenant within 14 days.

Please provide us with an alternative address from the end of your tenancy Agreement (this can be a relative or family friend). This would only be used if we had to contact you about the Bond Certificate etc as a result of a dispute.