With the fallout from the Superstrike v Rodrigues
case still being felt in many political and industry
quarters. Housing Minister Mark Prisk is fervently
investigating whether new legislation is needed.
This revelation comes from a letter from Prisk to the
Residential Landlords Association in which he said: "I am aware
that this ruling has implications in respect of the tenancy deposit
protection (TDP) legislation and the operation of the tenancy
deposit protection schemes.
"There are concerns that the Court of Appeal decision means that
where a deposit was taken for an assured shorthold tenancy before
the introduction of TDP and continued as a statutory periodic
tenancy after 6 April 2007, the landlord should have protected the
deposit at the start of the statutory periodic tenancy".
In the letter to RLA chairman, Alan Ward, Prisk also states that
this was not the intention of the legislation and that the
Government are considering whether new legislation is required to
provide some clarity.
"I understand that concerns have also been raised that the
decision could have implications for some tenancies where a deposit
has been protected in an authorised scheme in relation to a tenancy
begun after 6 April 2007 and the fixed term has expired, and the
tenancy continues as a statutory periodic tenancy.
"While the Court of Appeal did not make a decision on these
particular facts and we cannot advise on individual cases, as a
precaution, landlords could decide to re-issue the prescribed
information to their tenant(s) which should ensure they can rely on
the section 21 procedure if they wish to end the tenancy.
"Again, we are exploring whether new legislation is required to
clarify the situation."
This comes as good news to many in the letting industry who feel
new and abundantly clear and judiciary approved legislation is
needed to both explicate past positions and future intentions.
