Section 4 - 6 of the Private Tenancies Act (Northern Ireland) 2022
This guidance has been produced to clarify the limit on a tenancy deposit that a private landlord can request from a tenant and changes to tenancy deposit protection.
Section 4 - Limit on tenancy deposit amount
A landlord cannot ask for or retain a tenancy deposit that is more than one month’s rent.
A tenancy deposit is a payment that a landlord or agent can ask a tenant, or a relevant person (i.e., someone acting on a tenant’s behalf) to make. This provides a landlord with security if the tenant causes damage to a property, does not return it in its original condition, does not pay the rent or breaks the terms of a tenancy agreement.
The amount of the deposit required should not be more than the equivalent of one month’s rent. Where the rent is payable for periods other than whole months then the day’s letting multiplied by 30. For example, if a weekly rent amount is charged, the deposit should not be more than the weekly rent amount divided by 7 and multiplied by 30.
If a tenant previously signed or agreed a contract to pay a deposit of more than one month’s rent before 1 April 2023, then the landlord can ask to for / retain that deposit and the tenant is contractually obliged to pay it.
Offences
Any landlord or other person who requests or retains a tenancy deposit in excess of 1 month’s rent in connection with a private tenancy (after 1 April 2023) is guilty of an offence.
A council can issue a fixed penalty notice or fine for this offence. The amount of the fixed penalty notice will be determined by councils and cannot exceed £500. The fine will not exceed £2500.
If a landlord is convicted of requiring or retaining a deposit in excess of one month’s rent, the court may order the excess to be repaid to the person who paid it.
Section 5 - Increase in time limits for requirements relating to tenancy deposits
The time limit for a deposit to be protected in an approved scheme has changed from 14 days to 28 days. Landlords have additional time to provide the prescribed information to the tenant as this has changed from 28 days to 35 days.
Where a landlord receives a tenancy deposit in connection with a private tenancy, the initial requirements of an approved scheme must be complied with by the landlord in relation to the deposit within the period of they have 28 days to protect it in an approved scheme, beginning with the date on which the deposit is received. The landlord must provide the tenant with the required written prescribed information within 35 days of the deposit being paid.
Written information must include:
- details of the amount of the deposit protected in an approved scheme and the full tenancy address;
- the landlord or agents’ name, address and contact details;
- the name and contact details of the scheme protecting the deposit including how the tenant can let the scheme know about a disagreement over the return of the deposit;
- the reasons why part of, or all of, the deposit might be withheld at the end of the tenancy; and
- what happens when the tenant cannot be contacted at the end of the tenancy.
Section 6 - Certain offences in connection with tenancy deposits to be continuing offences
An offence is committed where a landlord fails to protect a tenancy deposit or give the prescribed information within the required time.
The Private Tenancies Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 makes the failure to protect a tenancy deposit a continuing offence and removes the 6-month time limit on prosecutions.
This legislation provides that those offences continue to be committed throughout any period during which the failure to protect a deposit, or supply the required information to the tenant, continues. The result of this is that there will be no time barrier on prosecuting a person who fails to comply with the requirements.
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