28 Apr 2015
Residential Property
The Deregulation Act 2015 received Royal Assent and became law on 26 March 2015.
The Act does well to clarify the position in respect of tenancy deposits following the decisions of the court of Appeal in Superstrike v Rodriques and Charolambous v NG. the Superstrike v Rodriques judgment stated that a statutory periodic tenancy should be treated as a “new” tenancy and determined that deposits that were taken in respect of tenancies prior to the introduction of the tenancy deposit protection regime commenced on 6 April 2007, which either renewed or continued as a statutory periodic tenancy should have been protected or re-protected with up to date prescribed information served on the tenant. The court of Appeal determined in the Charolambous v NG case that even though a deposit was taken prior to 6 April 2007, because it had not been protected and the prescribed information provided, a Section 21 Notice served on the tenant was invalid.
These cases sought to clarify the issues raised from the drafting of the Housing Act 2004 and subsequently the amendments made to the Act by the Localism Act 2011.
As a result of these cases and the implementation of the Deregulation Act 2015, the following changes must be noted in respect of tenancy deposits:-
It is important to note that where a landlord currently holds a deposit but has not placed it within an appropriate scheme and provided the prescribed information, the landlord must do this by 23 June 2015 in accordance with the third bullet point above.
It is important for all landlords to review their tenancies in order to ensure compliance with these rules so as to avoid any penalties.
If you would like more information, please contact specialist landlord & tenant Craig Court on 01633 244233 or e-mail courtc@hevans.com
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