Landlord didn't use TDS but contract says he should; tenancy > £25000

[ManchesterStudent]

Last year I and 7 friends rented a house together. We were all students during the term of the tenancy. We had no problems at all until about a week ago, when the landlord got back in touch regarding our deposits. He proposed some very large (frankly ridiculous) deductions. So I began to investigate our rights. (I can go into more detail about these charges if need be, but I thought I should ask about Tenant Deposit Protection Schemes first).

 

I replied to this, asking him which TDP scheme he had used. The landlord informed me he had not used a TDP and was not legally required to do so, as the tenancy value was above £25,000.

 

However, on the directgov website it says,

 

"If your tenants are students, you must protect their deposits using a TDP scheme if:

• they have an assured shorthold tenancy
  
• you received their full deposits on or after April 6 2007"
  

I had a copy of the contract sent to me, and it says our contract is an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST). It also says,

"You have to pay a deposit . . . and the deposit will be protected in a Governement Deposit Protection Scheme."

 

Does this mean that the landlord was legally obliged to use a TDS because we were all students, even though the tenancy value was above £25,000? If not, he is still clearly in breach of the contract, but I don't know what the implications of this are. Could we take him to court over this to try and get our deposits back?

 

Any help with this would be HUGELY appreciated.

Thanks.

Edited August 8, 2011 by ManchesterStudent

[mariner51]

OP, more T details please

Date commenced

All joint Ts

Fixed term

Date T ended

Prop in E&W

Amount of deposit paid (Total) or by each T

Monthly rent / amount

You appear to have a 'misinformed' LL

TDS is applicable to all ASTs after April 2007 The upper rent limit was raised to ~£100K around 2009

[ManchesterStudent]

mariner51, thanks so much for replying. I'm really grateful for any and all help with this.

 

To be honest I'm completely new to this, and I didn't understand some of the abbreviations you used, but I'll try to give you as much information as I can.

 

The tenancy was from 1st July 2010 to the 30th June 2011. Is this the 'fixed term' you mentioned? I'm guessing 'all joint Ts' is regarding us as tenants? The copy of the contract I've had sent to me has all of our names and signatures on it, so I think it's a joint tenancy?

 

The contract states the monthly rental was £2426.64 every calendar month, with half price rent during July and August. The deposit was £2800. We split the deposit and rent payments equally, so we each paid a £350 deposit and £303.33 in rent p/month.

 

I'm afraid I don't know what prop in E&W is. I'm a rookie with housing law, tenancies, etc. so please bear with me.

 

The upper rent limit was raised October 1 2010, which is after our tenancy started. I found this on thedisputeservice (a TDP scheme I think):

"CLG have expressed the opinion that Landlords with existing common law tenancies assured shorthold tenancies when the rental threshold is increased, will not need to protect their tenants deposits in a recognised scheme immediately, although we would recommend that it is good practice to do so."

Apologies for Italics, I can't get them to go away now. I think that paragraph above means the LL didn't need to use a TDP scheme by law, but it says in our contract that he should have done. Is this what you meant about a 'misinformed LL'? If not, could you offer any advice about how to proceed, since the LL has broken the contract?

Thanks so much for your help.

[Feebee_71]

Manchesterstudent,

 

The phrase "prop in E&W " means is the property in England or Wales - the laws are different in Scotland so it's important to know where itis.

 

Feebee_71

[ManchesterStudent]

Ahh thanks, Feebee_71!

 

The property is in England.

[mariner51]

MS, "Misinformed LL"

 

Whilst your orig combined rent was above the £25K limit for deposit protection applicable at time (suggest student protection was only 'advice', prob not legally bindimg, the lower rent limit for deposit protection was raised 1 Oct 2010 to £100K. So the rent increase was applied at the same time. There is still some debate as to whether pre-existing deposits were excluded, but the concensus is that the new limit applies to all deposits for rents below £100K and they should be protected. You can sue LL for £2800 cash in SCC or LL can simply return it, perhaps after a well-worded solicitor's letter.