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Tenancy deposit schemes: power to make a penalty order once tenancy has ended
Posted on May 27 2011
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The Court of Appeal has held that an application cannot be made for a landlord to pay a penalty of three times the deposit once a tenancy has expired. The power of the court to make an order under section 214(3) and (4) of the Housing Act 2004 is no longer exercisable once the tenancy has come to an end.

This decision will be welcomed by landlords. However, it removes even more "teeth" from the legislative scheme from a tenant's point of view. The decision in Tiensia gave less incentive for tenants to pursue claims against landlords. This decision now forces a tenant to bring any such claim before the end of the tenancy or it will lose the ability to apply for a section 214 order altogether. (Gladehurst Properties Ltd v Hashemi and another [2011] EWCA Civ 604

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