In the case of Charalambous & Karli v Ng [2014] EWCACiv 1604 the Court of Appeal have held that if a landlord wishes to use the no fault accelerated section 21 procedure to obtain possession of an assured shorthold property (“AST”) then they must secure the tenant’s deposit in accordance with sections 212- 215 of the Housing Act 2004, even if the tenant has been occupying the property for years.
As a result of this case, on 5 March 2015 the House of Lords approved an amendment to the Deregulation Bill, clarifying that no matter when a landlord took a deposit, they will be unable to serve a section 21 notice if the deposit was not properly protected at the time of serving the notice.
For full details of the outcome and implications arising from this case, please click here or contact Victoria Seifert, JPC Law’s in house counsel - vseifert@jpclaw.co.uk
