unscrupulous landlord/letting agency.

Tenancy Deposits

As part of the Housing Act 2004 the Government introduced tenancy deposit protection for all assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs) in England and Wales where a deposit is taken. From April 6th 2007, all deposits paid under an AST have had to be protected within 14 days of receipt by the landlord.

The legislation aims to ensure that tenants who have paid a deposit to a landlord or letting agent and are entitled to receive all or part of it back at the end of that tenancy, actually get it.

The legislation covers virtually all new AST contracts through which private landlords let property in England and Wales.

However, the following will not need to be registered with a tenancy deposit protection scheme:

-resident landlords (those living in the property)

-landlords of properties with rent of over £25,000 a year

company lets

-student accommodation let directly by universities or colleges.

-Deposits taken before 6 April 2007 do not need to be protected by a scheme such as The DPS. However, when an existing tenancy is renewed and a landlord agrees a new fixed-term tenancy, the initial deposit taken must be lodged with a tenancy deposit protection

Rosie - I would check if a tenant deposit scheme was in place, you don't mention when they took occupation of the property for rental and whether they were on a standard AST? if the correct paperwork is in place then they can contest the deposit with the deposit scheme who will arbitrate between the tenant and landlord, if a tenancy deposit agreement was not in place and they rented after this date, then they can exploit the landlord for failure to comply and potentially seek damages.

If they took out a AST agreement prior to the 6th April then written and photographic evidence would be a benefit in trying to pin down the landlord, you mention they are, or were 'medical students' therefore if linked to the university in some way there will be an accreditation protocool for most landlords, should he fail to be present on the list, then it may be a matter of learning from your mistakes and ensuring it doesn't happen again. You could also inform all local letting agents of this poor landlord so they put a 'blackmark' against his name........the options are endless but you may have to weigh up whether it is worth continuing the fight for the outstanding amount of money!