Section 21 may be gone for good, but the deposit protection rules remain largely intact under the Renters’ Rights Act, so caution in this area is still strongly advised.

Some mistakes in deposit protection are irreversible. That means there’s no chance of correcting the mistake and you will have to return the deposit money before you go to court for a possession order. For instance, late protection counts as no protection at all. In my experience, this is most likely to happen when:

1. A guarantor or third party pays the deposit

2. A landlord relies on an old protection from a previous tenancy without checking it was done properly in the first place

3. A tenant in financial difficulty doesn’t pay all the money up front

Most landlords are now aware they must protect the deposit in a government-approved scheme (such as mydeposits) within 30 days of receiving the funds. Failure to do this leaves you with only one option: returning the money, so it will be treated as if no deposit was taken.  

Thankfully, this is not the most common mistake we see at Landlord Action.  

Unfortunately, there are other, trickier rules that I want to focus on. These are slightly more ‘technical’ problems that can invalidate everything, no matter how unfair or petty it may seem.  These have to do with easy-to-miss details on the Prescribed Information Sheet, and the timing of the protection.

1. Potential mistakes or omissions in the Prescribed Information Sheet

You must give the tenant (and any “relevant person” who paid the deposit, such as a parent or guarantor) the full Prescribed Information for the scheme within the same 30-day window. This will often include a Deposit Protection Certificate as well.  It is good practice to keep a paper trail. If you serve a printed version by hand, and the tenant denies receiving it, you could have a difficult time rebutting this.  

If you are thinking of serving notice now, look through the Prescribed Information Sheet first. There could be something you’ve missed.  For instance, one of the statutory requirements under The Housing (Tenancy Deposits) (Prescribed Information) Order 2007 requires landlords/agents to confirm the circumstances when the deposit (or part of it) may be retained. Here is an example of how that appears on a Prescribed Information Sheet from our partner at mydeposits:  

(vi) The circumstances when all or part of the deposit may be retained by the landlord, by reference to the terms of the tenancy; These are the circumstances in which all or part of the tenancy deposit may be retained at the end of the tenancy, with reference to the relevant clause(s) in the Tenancy Agreement:  

We are seeing a huge number of landlords leave this section blank, or sometimes even referring to an incorrect clause in the agreement. This is something judges are very much picking up on, and defence solicitors are on the lookout for. Your notice could be deemed invalid if this isn’t done correctly.  

There has been some positive news for landlords in the recent case of Lowe v The Governors of Sutton's Hospital in Charterhouse, where the court took a practical approach to this issue. Here, the Prescribed Information directed the reader to Clause 6 of the tenancy agreement, when in fact the conditions under which deductions could be made were in Clause 5.3. The court confirmed that minor administrative or technical errors in the Prescribed Information will not invalidate a notice, provided the tenant is able to understand the information and is not materially disadvantaged by the error.  

However, this case was given permission to appeal in December 2025 and is due to be heard in the Supreme Court in November this year.  

I recently had a fiercely contested Section 21 case where the landlord’s Prescribed Information sheet directed the reader to Clauses 28–30 of the tenancy agreement. In fact, the relevant clause was 28 alone. Counsel for the tenant argued the case should be adjourned until the Supreme Court makes its decision in Lowe. Thankfully, this was not granted, and we were able to convince a judge (one very experienced in housing matters) that obvious clerical errors do not invalidate a document where its intended meaning is clear to a reasonable recipient.  

However, the issue still caused significant delay, and the problem could have been addressed earlier altogether if the Prescribed Information was more specific. If the section had been left blank, our claim might have been dismissed entirely.  

Another surprising issue has been forwarding addresses for the tenant after the tenancy ends. Realistically, many tenants do not know for certain where they will be living after their tenancy. However, I have seen possession cases challenged where this section on the Prescribed Information was left blank. This problem can be avoided by putting the current tenanted address in this section, despite it seeming unnecessary.  

Bear in mind that an error on the Prescribed Information sheet can be amended, and the document can be re-served even after the 30-day window has passed. You just need to make sure it is done before you go to court.

2. Giving the Prescribed Information before taking the deposit money

A metaphorical spanner was thrown into the works by the courts in 2024 in the decision in Siddeeq v Alaian. Here, a tenant successfully argued that a Prescribed Information Sheet served prior to payment of the deposit could not amount to 'Prescribed Information' within the meaning of the Housing Act 2004'. The judge agreed: you cannot, in good faith, give a document detailing “the amount of the deposit paid” before any money has changed hands. The Section 21 notice was ruled invalid, and the landlord’s possession claim failed.  

The problem is that it was common practice to include a Prescribed Information supplement within a tenancy agreement and get a tenant to sign it even before money was paid. It still is for landlords who are unaware of the ruling in Siddeeq v Alaian. I am still seeing landlords get penalised in court for this - their possession case dismissed for what looks like the most innocent of mistakes.

Therefore, never bundle the full Prescribed Information into a tenancy agreement that was signed before the tenant has paid the deposit. If you or your agent did this, serve the Prescribed Information again, and give your tenant the opportunity to sign it, before you serve your notice.

The good news is that while failure to get these details right would invalidate a Section 21 notice It will not invalidate your Section 8 notice under Ground 1 (if you are looking to move into your tenanted property) or Ground 1a (if you need a possession order to sell). However, you will have to return the deposit funds to the tenant before you go to a court hearing.

Getting deposit protection right can be tricky, but the consequences of getting it wrong are often severe and avoidable. Checking your paperwork and amending a mistake now can save you time in court and a lot of money in the future.

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