How safe is your tenancy deposit? Basically if it is protected in a scheme it is safe, if it is not protected, it may not be. From 7 April 2007 all tenancy deposits for assured shorthold tenancies have to be protected in a government authorised tenancy deposit scheme. There are three tenancy deposit schemes: The…
Tiensia v Vision Enterprises Ltd (t/a Universal Estates) As has been reported elsewhere, the Court of Appeal decision in the Tiensia tenancy deposit case is now out. I am not going to report the details of the case – they can be read in the BAILII report. I am going to concentrate on the issues…
Advance rent as deposit? When a tenant appears to be a bit of a risk, rent wise, a landlord will generally either ask for a guarantee or an upfront payment of the first six months rent. They will normally also take a deposit which will be protected in the normal way. But is the five…
Tenancy deposit problems You have found the perfect property to rent, it is in the right area, the rent is affordable, but you just cannot pay the deposit. What can you do? Local authority bond schemes The best thing to do is to see if there is a deposit or bond scheme in your area…
Discharge bonus v. tenancy deposit There is an interesting post over on the Pain Smith blog which raises a new alternative to tenancy deposits. A discharge bonus. A discharge bonus is where the tenant pays no deposit (and so the landlord does not have to mess about with tedious tenancy deposit scheme administration) but if…
Tenants checkin meetings and inventories When you rent a property, you will often have a checkin or handover meeting before you move in. The landlord or agent will take you round and check the contents against the inventory list. You will then be asked to sign to confirm that everything is in order, before you…
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Is the tenancy deposit legislation legal?
Can the tenancy deposit laws be challenged in the courts? Tenancy deposit law has been with us for several years now, and most people are getting used to it, even if many of them don’t like it. However one website I spotted recently still has big questions. The website is Buy to Let Building Insurance…