Since 6 April 2007 it has been compulsory for a landlord to join a TDS (tenancy deposit scheme) where a deposit has been paid by the tenant on creation of an AST (assured shorthold tenancy).
Section 32 of the Deregulation Act 2015 inserted section 215A into the Housing Act 2004, extending the TDS requirements to ASTs created before 5 April 2007.
Section 215A applies where all of the following are fulfilled:
- A tenancy deposit has been received by a landlord in connection with a fixed term AST before 6 April 2007.
- A periodic AST is deemed to have arisen under section 5 of the Housing Act 1988 at the end of the fixed term AST – on or after 6 April 2007.
- On the coming to an end of the fixed term AST, all or part of the deposit paid in connection with the fixed term tenancy is held in connection with the periodic tenancy.
- The landlord has not complied with the requirements of section 213(3), (5) and (6) of the Housing Act 2004 in relation to the deposit held.
The requirements regarding securing the deposit in a TDS and the provision of prescribed information will be satisfied if they are complied with before the end of 90 days, beginning with the start date of the Deregulation Act 2015 (26 March 2015).
If the landlord fails to join a TDS before 23 June 2015, they may be liable to financial penalties and may not be permitted to recover possession of their property from the tenant.
