UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hello, this is my first time on landlord forum, but having read the other blogs have found it very informative.

My dilemma, if anyone can guide me in this is:I have only one property which I let to students who usually pay half rent for July and August on a 1 year contract. However, last year I was unable to get tenants in for July and the contract started in August for 12 months. Should I half the rent for the last month of the term as it is July ( when traditionally all students pay half rent) or stick to the contract which is for full payment to end of contract? The 2 students taking the tenancy for the month of July only are paying only half rent as it was better to have the rooms occupied rather than empty, plus it helps the present remaining tenants in sharing the bills between 6 rather than 4. The two students leaving at the end of June have genuine reasons for leaving and hence I am not pursuing them for the half monthly renst that I am going to lose.

On another matter, 2 ( out of 6)  of the tenants have given in their notice to leave at the end of June. This causes a problem with the deposit scheme, as their advise is to return the deposit to the present tenants and re-deposit from the next group of tenants. But, 4 are staying to the end of July, with 2 new tenants taking the place of the 2 leaving on a "Deed of Assignement".
I have a new group taking the tenancy from August, which includes 2 tenants from the present group. Has anyone had previous experience of dealing with overlapping deposits?
After reading the blogs, and the requirements to immediately pay into the deposit schemes ( which so far I have done), it appears that the tenants who are staying either have to wait for their deposits to be returned and then repay or find money to pay into two deposits for the overlapping tenancy dates.

I would appreciate any advice.