Tribunal backs letting agency following rental deposit dispute
The property tribunal says deductions from deposits are not 'payments' and are not covered by the Tenant Fees Act.
A property tribunal has ruled that deductions from tenant deposits are not ‘payments’ and cannot be illegal under the Tenant Fees Act 2019.
In a move that will be a relief to many landlords and letting agents, the tribunal said taking money from deposits to cover damage, cleaning or redecoration does not come under the legislation.
Also, the the tribunal said that the tenant disputing the deductions from their deposit would have to seek a resolution through the MyDeposits service or go to a county court. Deposits actually come under the Housing Act 2004, and not the Tenants Fees Act, the tribunal said.
Claimed
The case involved deductions of £677 from a deposit of £1,295 by Dr Shamser Chohan and Mrs K Shohan of Leicester firm NAS Properties.
The tenant Lai Ki Michelle Chan, who lived in the property in Oadby, Leicester (main picture), for seven months, claimed during the hearing that deductions for cleaning (£80), damages (£240), redecoration (£185) and ‘other’ costs (£172), were not charged at commercial rates.
Common sense
Judge Jackson said: “I do not consider that the withholding of part of a tenancy deposit can be considered to be a ‘payment’ by the [tenant], whether prohibited or not.
“I suggest that ‘payment’ requires some action on behalf of the [tenant ]which accords with the ordinary meaning of the word “payment”, and is in line with common sense.
“I therefore determine that as there was no prohibited payment as defined by the Tenant Fees Act 2019, that I do not have jurisdiction to order the recovery of the withheld part of the deposit.”
Read the full judgement here
Read more about the Tenant Fees Act.
If she reckons £80 isn’t commercial rates to clean that house, I want her coeaners’ number 😂 that’s ridiculously cheap. I pay that on my one bed flat
This is the sort of behavior from todays entitled tenants that the majority of landlords just don’t understand.
Clearly the tenants did not leave the property in an acceptable condition and tried to claim that the deductions were a prohibited payment, unbelievable!!
At least we can still have faith that judges, for the most part, still have common sense.