0151 665 0320A change of landlord or agent partway through a tenancy is one of the most reliable places to find a deposit protection breach, and almost nobody checks.
The short version: when ownership or management changes, the deposit needs to be correctly held and protected for the new landlord, and you need to be told who holds it and how to get it back. If that did not happen, there may be a claim worth 1x to 3x your deposit.
What is supposed to happen
Your deposit does not simply follow the property. On a sale, the deposit should be transferred to the new landlord or repaid to you. Once the new landlord holds it, the protection and the prescribed information need to reflect reality: who the landlord is, who holds the deposit, which scheme, and how you get it back.
In practice this often goes wrong:
- The deposit stays registered to the old landlord who no longer owns the property
- It is transferred but no new prescribed information is served
- The agent changes and nobody re-registers anything
- Nobody tells you any of it has happened
Why this matters financially
The penalty for failing to protect a deposit correctly, or to serve the prescribed information, is an order that the landlord pays you between one and three times the deposit, on top of returning the deposit itself.
Because breaches can arise on separate occasions, a tenancy that changed hands can produce more than one. A tenant with a 1,200 pound deposit and two breaches is looking at a meaningfully larger claim than one with a single breach.
The signs worth checking
- Rent started going to a different account or a different name
- A new agent introduced themselves partway through
- You got a new tenancy agreement with a different landlord named
- You were told the property was being sold
- Your deposit scheme certificate names someone who is not your current landlord
Any of those is worth ten minutes checking your deposit scheme record.
How to check
- Find your deposit scheme certificate, or search the DPS, TDS and mydeposits registers using your tenancy details.
- Compare the landlord named there against who you were actually paying.
- Check whether you were ever given prescribed information naming the new landlord.
- Note the dates. When did the change happen, and when was the deposit re-registered, if it ever was?
If the names do not match, or you never received new prescribed information, that is worth advice.
Time limits
You generally have six years from the breach to bring a claim, and you can claim even if you got your deposit back and even if you have moved out. A change of landlord that happened years ago may still be actionable.
Frequently asked questions
Who do I claim against, the old landlord or the new one? It depends on when the breach happened and who held the deposit at the time. It can be either, and sometimes both.
My deposit was protected the whole time, just in the old landlord’s name. Is that a breach? Potentially. Protection has to be accurate, and prescribed information has to tell you who actually holds your money.
What if the property was sold to a company? Same principles. The identity of the landlord changed, so the paperwork needed to change with it.
Related guides
- Prescribed information: the deposit rule most landlords get wrong
- The 6-year clock: how long you have to claim
- Free tenancy deposit check
This article is general information, not legal advice on your situation.