You are likely to have paid a deposit to your Landlord or the Letting Agent at the commencement of the Occupation Contract, and despite your belief and understanding that the property has been left spotlessly clean and in excellent condition when you vacated, you may be facing a struggle to get your deposit monies back.
Thankfully, a relatively new scheme has been introduced to protect those deposits and, any Contract Holders’ deposit paid in respect of an Occupation Contract is subject to the new rules, obliging the Landlord to place the deposit in an approved Occupation Contract Deposit Protection Scheme, and provide you with prescribed information in relation to the same within 30 days of them receiving the deposit.
Of course, whilst this should make it easier for you to recoup the deposit, sometimes the Landlord may wish to make deductions in respect of some elements of disrepair. The various Tenancy Deposit Schemes have different processes for resolving such a dispute but, each one does offer a free service to Contract Holders which can help resolve the issues. We can point you in the right direction and advise you on how best to proceed with such dispute and negotiation.
If your Landlord has failed to place your deposit in a Deposit Protection Scheme within 30 days of receiving it, and provide you with the prescribed information, you can actually claim compensation from your Landlord for a sum up to three times the amount of the deposit. We have acted for a Contract Holder recently where we are currently awaiting an Order from the Court that the Landlord pay to the Contract Holder nearly £3,000 by way of compensation. We are experienced in preparing such proceedings on behalf of our Contract Holder clients and can obtain the appropriate compensation as quickly as Court timetables allow.
Further, a Landlord’s failure to appropriately secure the deposit means that Notice of Possession served upon a Contract Holder while the deposit is unprotected, is unenforceable.
If you would like to arrange an appointment to discuss your potential needs, please telephone our offices on 029 2047 5100 and ask for Janine Griffiths. Alternatively, please complete the enquiry form to the right and one of our team will contact you.