Many people think that being a landlord has many perks and that it’s an easy way to have a second, third or even forth property with secured income each month. Well, yes, that is true, but there are many implications for landlords that are not always recognised by the onlooker, or indeed the tenant. As a tenant, it’s good to know what your rights are and what the landlord’s obligations are, in this instance I’m focussing on the tenancy deposit.

Tenancy Deposit Schemes

If you have an assured shorthold tenancy agreement, your landlord needs to secure the full deposit into a properly certified tenancy deposit scheme. The landlord cannot keep the deposit in a personal bank account. Once your landlord has received the deposit, they have 30 days to tell you:

• the address of the rented property;
• how much deposit has been paid;
• how the deposit is protected;
• the name and contact details of the tenancy deposit protection (TDP) scheme and its dispute resolution service;
• their (or the letting agency’s) name and contact details;
• the name and contact details of any third party that’s paid the deposit;
• why they would keep some or all of the deposit;
• how to apply to get the deposit back;
• what to do if you can’t get hold of the landlord at the end of the tenancy; and
• what to do if there’s a dispute over the deposit.

You normally receive this information when your landlord sends you a copy of the tenancy deposit scheme certificate, which will have all of the prescribed information in. If your landlord has not protected the deposit, you could be entitled to recover your deposit and up to three times the deposit amount by way of compensation. Our litigation team at stevensdrake can review your tenancy agreement and documents to see if you have a claim and start proceedings, if necessary. If you would like to discuss any landlord and tenant disputes you might have, then please click here