EFIS 12, April 2007 : Landlord & Tenant

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Section 213(1) of the Housing Act 2004 stipulates that any deposit for a tenancy paid to a person to secure an assured shorthold tenancy must be handled by the person who receives it in accordance with one of the authorised schemes in force under section 212(1) of the 2004 Housing Act.

On 22nd November 2006, the Government awarded three contracts to Computershare Investor Services PLC, the Dispute Service Limited and Tenancy Deposit Solutions Limited to administer tenancy deposit protection schemes from 6th April 2007.

Computershare will run a single custodial scheme where deposits will be paid into and held in a separate account. This scheme will be funded by the surplus from interest generated on the total of deposits with interest also paid to tenants. This custodial scheme will be free to use for landlords and tenants.

The Dispute Service and Tenancy Deposit Solutions Limited will run insurance based schemes which will be funded by a fee paid by landlords or agents but which will be free for tenants to use.

We have amended our residential Tenancy Agreement forms AGREE1, AGREE2B, AGREE3, AGREE3B, AGREE3C, AGREE19 and AGREE20 to take account of the introduction of these legislative changes. These amended forms ought not to be used before 6th April.

Agreement forms AGREE2D, AGREE3SR, AGREE3A and AGREE3H remain unaffected by the introduction of this new Tenancy Deposit Protection (TDP) regime because these forms cannot be used to create assured shorthold tenancies. However, we have amended the clause which deals with the insurance of the premises on these forms.

The new �Protecting Your Deposit� L&TPYD form is to be used by a landlord to notify a tenant which scheme the landlord has lodged the tenant�s deposit with, in accordance with new rules which are contained in the Housing (Tenancy Deposits) (Prescribed Information) Order 2007. L&TPYD does not have to be used if the operators of the tenancy deposit protection scheme provide a landlord or agent with their own documentation which performs the same function as the L&TPYD form.

The new �Condition of Property Schedule� L&TCPS form records the state of repair and decoration of the property.

Although practitioners may still be able to use The Landlord�s Deposit Agreement (LDA) for tenancies which do not create assured shorthold tenancies on or after 6th April, the LDA form cannot be used in connection with assured shorthold tenancies. Since this type of tenancy is the most commonly used, we have deleted the LDA form from your range to prevent any confusion arising after 6th April.

Practitioners who want to know more about how tenancy deposit protection will operate may like to refer to the Housing (Tenancy Deposit Schemes) Order 2007 which will come into force on 6th April.

More general information concerning the operation of tenancy deposit protection can be viewed on the Government�s website at www.communities.gov.uk/tenancydeposit

Form LGH4 has also received a minor amendment and is available for your immediate use.

This EFIS requires deletions. For deletion instructions, click here

Forms affected

LDA	Landlord and Tenant Deposit Agreement	Withdrawn
AGREE1	Agreement for Letting (General Form)	New/Amended
AGREE2B	Agreement for Letting a Unfurnished Dwellinghouse	New/Amended
AGREE2D	Agreement for Letting a Furnished House or Flat for a Holiday	New/Amended
AGREE3	Agreement for Letting Furnished House or Apartment	New/Amended
AGREE3B	Agreement for Letting Flat - Unfurnished	New/Amended
AGREE3C	Agreement for Letting Flat - Furnished	New/Amended
AGREE19	Agreement for Letting an Unfurnished Dwellinghouse on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy	New/Amended
AGREE20	Agreement for Letting a Furnished Dwellinghouse on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy	New/Amended
AGREE3SR	Agreement for Letting Shop.	New/Amended
AGREE3A	Agreement for Letting Offices	New/Amended
AGREE3H	Agreement for Letting Unfurnished Premises to a Tenant Company	New/Amended
L&TPYD	Protecting Your Deposit - [AGRTD1]	New/Amended
L&TCPS	Condition of Property Schedule	New/Amended
LGH4	Tenant's Notice Proposing Different Terms or Rent for an Assured Tenancy	New/Amended

Crown copyright forms are reproduced with the permission of the Controller of the Stationery Office. Law Society forms are reproduced with the permission of the Law Society. Legal Aid Forms are produced with the permission of the LSC.