It has taken 67 days for my letting agent to get my damage deposit protected under a Tenancy Deposit Scheme! They should have done so within 30 days. I started my tenancy on 6th of March.
Failure to do so could result in a fine to the landlord or letting agent of up to three times the value of the deposit. Furthermore, until a deposit is protected, the landlord is unable to serve me notice to leave under s21 of the Housing Act 2004.
Never mind, it only took a trip to the Citizen's Advice Bureau and 2 'recorded delivery' letters to get the deposit protected!
First letter to the letting agent reminding them of their obligation. Second letter to a Property Ombubsman explaining the situation (+ enclosed copy of letter to LA). I didn't realise that from October 2014, all lettings agents must be registered with one of three redress schemes.
This is a another example of the ineptitude of lettings agents, who are very much fair game on HPC.
Power to the People!