Fail to Protect…Fail to Evict!

As a letting agent there’s lots of boring legislation we need to know to ensure a landlord is compliant with all of the regulations...

As a letting agent there’s lots of boring legislation we need to know to ensure a landlord is compliant with all of the regulations and new laws out there.

A recent law which you should be aware of is the Deregulation Act 2015, namely:When a deposit is taken on a new tenancy with an AST agreement, the deposit should be protected and the prescribed information (this is supplied by the company where your deposit is protected) must be served within 30 days of the deposit being paid. Also a landlord should provide a tenant with a copy of the current version of the government’s “How to rent” guide.

If the deposit isn’t protected in time, a landlord will not be able to recover possession of their property by serving a Section 21 notice. The landlord may still be able to recover possession through a Section 8 notice if the relevant grounds are met but this is a more costly and less effective route.

Often the only solution is repaying the deposit to the tenant.

This all sounds incredibly tedious and boring but I’m afraid that’s my job as a letting agent to make sure everything is served correctly and at the right time so you’re protected if something goes wrong.

Drop me an email if you’re having any problems with evictions, deposits etc. since I might be able to help?