Harvey v Bamforth [2008]

The landlord and tenant entered into a tenancy agreeent in June 2007, and the tenant paid a deposit of £525. The landlord lodged this with The Dispute Service under the provisions of the Housing Act 2004, but the required prescribed information was not provided to the tenant.
The tenant fell into rent arrears, and in January 2008 the landlord took possession action. However, the landlord was advised that had failed to comply with the deposit information requirements of the Housing Act 2004, and consequently possession proceedings could not go ahead. The landlord then gave the required prescibed information to the tenant in February 2008.
The possession hearing was eventually heard in May 2008, and the judge found that the landlord had failed to provide the required information within the 14 days from the date on which the deposit is received as stated by section 213 Housing Act 2004. He imposed on the landlord the penalties of repaying the deposit to the tenant plus £1,575 which was three times the deposit, pursuant to section 215. The landlord appealed.

On appeal:
HELD:
The court upheld the landlord’s appeal. The failure on the landlord’s part was not that the prescribed information was not given but that it was not given within the 14 days. The first judge took the view that section 213 subsections 6(a) and 6(b) were so closely connected that they made sense only if they were read together. This was incorrect as there is a clear difference between giving the information and giving it within a specific time. Therefore, in this case, the conditions for the penalty provision were not met and the tenant was ordered to pay, in full, the arrears of rent.

The effect of this decision is to confirm that the heavy penalties set under s.214 are available to tenants but can be avoided if a landlord remedies the breach of the legislation before the tenant has an opportunity to take formal action under the penalty provisions