UK Landlord Forum / Life

I have just found out that my agent found  Students for my property in December 2022 after calling them  on Friday 2nd February 2023.  They usually find the yearly tenants for me in January.

    I did not receive any correspondence as my email that they used had been terminated by virginmedia at the end of November without warning.  I have had this email address for 20 years and thought I had informed most of my long list of contacts.

    As soon as I was aware that I had tenants (3/2/2023) asked the agent to send over the tenancy agreement and how much deposit was taken. I immediately protected the deposit with the DPS and sent the prescribed information to the tenants to sign via Adobe Sign. (to date they have yet to sign)

   The agent does not transfer the deposit but raise a credit against their invoice again sent to the incorrect email  on the 5/1/2023.

   If they had transferred the deposit I would have been aware of it in my bank account and therefore would have know about the tenancy earlier.

    The tenancy agreement I received from the agent on the 3/02/2023 was signed on 29th December 2022 I initially thought that was when the deposit was taken and submitted the details to the DPS, but I have subsequently found out they took the deposit on the 15th December 2022.  The tenancy officially starts on the 1st July 2023.

    As the deposit is deemed to be submitted late should I return it in  full  (the DPS has told me I have to wait 30 days for it to clear!!) and explain the situation to the tenants and tell them that I will not be taking a deposit

    If I do return it should I get the tenancy agreement amended.

    Any advise would be very welcome

Clearly you have made a mistake and are at risk of the tenants claiming a penalty for the next 6 years. You would also not be able to serve a valid s21 notice until the deposit has been returned. However, in your situation I would sit tight and keep quiet. Its entirely possible that this whole episode will pass without incident and if you ever find yourself in need of a s21 notice, you can always refund the deposit at that point.

I have to ask. Why on earth does your agent think its reasonable to take a security deposit 7 months before the start of the tenancy! That's what a holding deposit is supposed to be for.