Monthly Archives: October 2011

Deposit Protection Scheme: What are the Legal Requirements?

If you take a deposit from a tenant for an Assured Shorthold Tenancy, you must safeguard it in an approved tenancy deposit scheme.

Landlords must tell tenants days within 14 which scheme they are using, and pay the deposit money into it. At the end of the tenancy, the tenant should get their money back within ten days provided there is no dispute.

The deposit must be in the form of money.

Landlords who are found to be in breach of these provisions will not be able to issue section 21 notices, and may have to pay compensation to the tenant of three times the deposit.

The landlord/agent must submit the deposit to the operators of their scheme when requested.

Slum Landlord Jailed

Millionaire landlord, Israr Fazal, 54, has been jailed for renting decrepit and dangerous flats in Manchester to vulnerable families.  Up to 12 families, mostly from Eastern Europe, were charged up to £100 per week to live in the squalid conditions.  On the other end of the spectrum, Mr Fazal himself was living in a luxury… Continue Reading

Private Rents in England are Unaffordable, say Shelter

Private rents are now unaffordable in 55% of local authorities in England, according to Shelter. Homes in these areas cost more than 35% of the average local take-home pay (the level considered unaffordable by Shelter’s Private Rent Watch report).  It said private rents in 8% of England’s local authorities were “extremely unaffordable” – with average… Continue Reading