Feb

Is this what to expect when England’s housing court goes ahead?

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As the government prepares to introduce a housing court, LandLordZone looks at the existing Scottish system to see what the future holds.

The government’s plans to
introduce a dedicated housing court in England will have huge implications for millions
of landlords who, if it takes inspiration from the Scottish system as expected,
will have to attend hearings in person to thrash out disputes and evictions.

Scotland’s government has
invested heavily in its Housing and Property Chamber tribunal system which
offers swift and transparent justice – decisions are often published the next
day highlighting poor behaviour by tenants and landlords alike.

And its most recent case,
published earlier today, is a case in point.

Deposit dispute

Tenant Romy King
took her landlord Lotta Brown to the tribunal after her £700 deposit was not lodged
correctly with an approved deposit protection provider, she had claimed.

King provided the judges
with email proof from all three schemes that they had not received proof of her
deposit’s protection within the 30-day window – or at all, in fact.

King had moved in during
September last year but, after experiencing difficulties with the property’s
heating, gave notice and the two parties then become embroiled in discussions over
a gas bill and when the rent for the notice period would be paid.

During this time, it became
clear that the deposit had not been lodged with a scheme, leaving it
unprotected for 12 days.
Brown accepted this but contested many of the details of when and how the discussions
between the two parties took place.

Although the Tribunal could
have fined Brown three times the monthly rent (£2,100), because of the
circumstances including the early departure of King from the property, this was
dropped to £50.

‘No excuse’

There should be no excuse
for landlords or their agents not protecting the tenant’s deposit as the
legislation has been around for a number of years now,” says David Gibb of
MyDeposits Scotland.

“The new Private Residential
Tenancy (PRT) agreement also details the requirement to place the deposit into
a scheme within 30 working days of the start date.

“If the PRT is being brought
to end prior to the 30 working days deadline, the landlord should return the
deposit in full to the tenant, or place into a scheme if they wish to make a
claim against the deposit.”

Eviction delays

Whilst these kinds of cases
are dealt with fairly swiftly by the FTT, landlord and agents in Scotland are
still concerned that eviction actions are taking too long.

A recent FOI request by agent
Aberdein Considine
confirmed the average time for an
eviction case is 141 days.

“As the landlord or agent is unable to raise the action until the tenant has been in rent arrears for three months, these time-frames can leave landlords facing a significant period without receiving rental income,” adds Gibb.

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