UK Landlord Forum / Life

Dear All

as a rookie landlord i have made a few mistakes with my tenant
the biggest one was not protecting my new tenants deposit - (this was the first time i actually asked for one prior to this i rented short term with no deposit) and my tenant is consistently paying his rent late
having done some research i have found i cannot yet issue a section 8 as he is not 2 months in arrears and i cannot issue a section 21 either due to my not protecting his deposit not only now (i have a break clause) but at the end of the tenancy unless i return his deposit to him or return with agreed deductions

so in order to rectify this situation i want to suggest i return his deposit deducted in full in order to cover part of his outstanding rent as this rather than protecting his deposit retrospectively will mean i can then issue a section 21 -

but before i do this i want to find out if there is a set way to do it or can i simply email him and suggest i use his deposit to cover his rent arrears - and with his written agreement will this be enough to comply to the "returning deposit to tenant or with mutually agreed deductions" section.

loo forward to your responses

Many thanks

section 215
(2A)Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply in a case where—
(a)the deposit has been returned to the tenant in full or with such deductions as are agreed between the landlord and tenant,

The above is the part that would let me off the hook with not having protected his deposit - so my question is how would i legally go about agreeing the deductions with the tenant in order to cover his rent arrears - do i need him to state in writing that he is happy for me to use his deposit for this purpose? or does it need to be more formal than that?

You're definitely not off the hook for non-protection. I'd probably prefer to give it back and hope to get it handed back as rent immediately... very clear then. It's not actually the same money then.