Rent Deposit Claims

Landlords are required to place deposits received from tenants into a government authorised tenancy deposit scheme.  The deposit must be placed within one of the 3 tenancy deposit schemes within 30 days of receiving it. Once the deposit is protected, the landlord is required to provide the tenant with a certificate and the prescribed information about the tenancy deposit scheme.

There are two important consequences of failing to protect the deposit:

• A landlord cannot validly serve a section 21 notice whilst they hold a deposit that has not been correctly placed within one of the tenancy deposit schemes within 30 days
• The tenant may be entitled to claim back the deposit together with compensation of between 1 – 3 times of the amount of the deposit

As a tenant, you may be entitled to bring a claim for compensation if the following applies:

• You are currently renting or have rented in the past 6 years
• You paid a deposit to the landlord
• The deposit was not placed in one of the 3 tenancy deposit schemes within 30 days of paying the deposit

The specialist Dispute Resolution Team provide clear and direct advice to both landlords and tenants where a deposit has not been protected.

For more information about our expertise and how we could help you, please contact us.