Question about breaches of tenancy agreement by landlord

Hi

I'd really like some clarification on these issues. I have tried to take free legal advice however I have been unable to get through to CAB etc. and I'm on a bit of a clock.

I have an assured shorthold tenancy, sharing a house with four other tenants each with their own tenancies for their own rooms. I am in arrears of around 1k and he served me with a S21 notice.

6 weeks ago the landlord moved a friend of his into a communal living area which he told me I would be able to occasionally have friends over in etc. I wasn't informed of this or asked if it was OK. The new tenant has more or less also moved his girlfriend in to the house.

I am also aware that my landlord only protected my deposit in a scheme a few days ago, which means it was several months later than the mandatory 30 day limit.

What are the repercussions of these breaches on my arrears and on the validity of the Section 21 notice he served me with?

They are entirely different issues. There's no 'two wrongs make a right' here. The most serious breach is your non-payment. The new tenant is a more or less unwinnable situation, unless occupancy limits are being broken. The deposit issue is also a non issue if it is now in the right place.

So this is entirely wrong advice as a cursory google search can discover. The lateness of the deposit protection is itself protected in the Localism Act 2011.

Please informed answers only.

I think that @threeportdrift is referring specifically to the fact that the deposit was entered into an approved protection scheme before the s21 was issued to you.
On that basis, the fact that the deposit was protected months later than it should have been cannot be used to dispute the validity of the s21 or challenge it at court.

Most likely your landlord has issued a s21 rather than a s8 because they are seeking to benefit from the accelerated possession procedure in terms of speed and no court hearing attendance required.

They are entirely different issues. There's no 'two wrongs make a right' here. The most serious breach is your non-payment. The new tenant is a more or less unwinnable situation, unless occupancy limits are being broken. The deposit issue is also a non issue if it is now in the right place.

I work in the lettings sector (admittedly on the tech side rather than as a landlord/agent). Perhaps I'm misunderstanding your point or I'm not well informed enough. But, in the context of the S21 notice being served, this is correct - the failure to register the deposit within a scheme in 30 days won't impact the fact the landlord has served S21 notice as the deposit is 'now' protected.

However, it's not correct to state "the deposit issue is also a non-issue if it is now in the right place". The landlord must register the deposit with a tenancy deposit protection scheme within 30 days of the landlord receiving it, failing to do so puts them in clear breach and makes them liable for failing to register the deposit within the time limit.

I can see the OP has now said: "But it [the deposit] wasn't [protected]... the notice was served a month or so before the deposit was protected." which was not initially made clear in the opening post, if this is the case and they can prove that they were not served with the prescribed information prior to S21 notice being served, then surely the S21 notice is invalid?

@HannibelletheCa-, when did you pay your deposit and when did you receive the prescribed information and information leaflets for the deposit protection scheme? This information is crucial to understanding if you have any recourse there. In terms of the other issues you raised, I don't know enough to comment and you'd likely need to seek legal advice on this whole thing at any rate. It's also worth me saying that the arrears also place you in breach of the AST as you've failed to meet your commitments, but this is a separate issue.

Disclaimer: this is not legal advice

Hi, thanks for this reply.

I should have made it clearer in the OP that the S21 was served over a month before the deposit was protected. To answer your question, I have not been given any certificates or leaflets pertaining to the PDS at all. The energy certificates etc. I was given when i moved in but nothing related to this. I checked the three PDS scheme sites to search for my deposit about a week ago and no results - after I asked my landlord for the certificate suddenly one of them showed a result, about three days ago, however the landlord only sent me a screenshot on his phone of this and it did not include any info except for the amount, my email address and the residential address. My understanding is that the certificates are provided by the schemes and so the date it was put in will be there if the certificate is not photoshopped etc.

As for the arrears - I am confused as to whether or not I have the right to withhold rent if the landlord has breached the tenancy; the issue of installing a friend of his into a communal living area without my consent or knowledge has affected what is referred to online as a tenant's right to peaceful enjoyment of the home to such an extent that I didn't feel I should be paying the rent I had signed up for because the living situation is not what I signed up for.

Thanks again this was helpful and I'd be glad to hear your thoughts.