Hi all, I posted a while back regarding a private tenancy issue relating to legal notice periods etc, not sure if I can post the link here so if anyone wants some background I am sure you can find it on my profile page. OK so rather than update that thread as most of it is irrelevant now I thought Id start a new one with this latest issue. LL did eventually protect deposit or so I believe, (I received a letter or prescribed info but I believe it has come direct from LL) Then LL sent official section 21 notice to quit with the 14th May 2014 on it so I was right all along, or should I say Mariner51 was right as I had the 15th May 2014 but what’s 24 hrs hey I have found a new property and my tenancy begins tomorrow 28th April 2014 and had arranged to hand over keys to this LL tomorrow morning again 28th April 2014. I have just been trying to figure out how I will get my deposit back from DPS bearing in mind that it was protected 1 year & 4 months late. On the DPS’s search there is no record however when I type in my reference number and surname it brings up a screen that says account status closed? I have no idea what this means as I have not received any monies, or further communications from the DPS. Was the deposit never actually protected? Where is the deposit now? Can anyone give me an idea of whats going on as I am meeting with LL early & will have very little chance to speak to DPS prior to the meeting. Many Thanks Again

Painsmith Soilicitors have just posted a new blog entry at http://blog.painsmith.co.uk/2010/08/23/after-a-section-21-notice-expires which clarifies matters very nicely. I have found considerable confusion amongst landlords and commentators on some aspects of the uses of these notices. It reads: "We are often asked the question of what the situation is once a notice pursuant to section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 expires. Thanks to the decision of the House of Lords in Knowsley Housing Trust v White it is known that a tenancy agreement for an assured or assured shorthold tenancy does not in fact come to an end until the Court Bailiff has executed an order for possession. Therefore the service of a section 21 notice does not in itself bring a tenancy to an end. This means that the measures of only referring to rent as mesne profits after the service of section 21 notice are not necessarily required (although they may be a good idea so as not to confuse busy District Judges!). If a tenant wishes to stay after the expiry of a section 21 notice for a short period this can easily be dealt with by simply sending a letter advising the tenant that the landlord will not be enforcing the expired possession order until a specific date. Subscribers to the PainSmith helpline service will be able to obtain a suitable letter from the document vault on their website. Section 21 notices have no finite lifetime in which they can be used, they oldest reported case involves a section 21 notice which expired 6 years before the possession action began. Therefore agents should not be overly focused on the section 21 notice and tenants staying on after it has expired and more on making sure they have not offered a new tenancy which might override the notice." It seems to me that LL's now have a clear procedural route to follow: protect the deposit serve the deposit info sheet along with a Section 21 notice specifying the final day of the tenanc allow the tenancy to become a statutory one if you ever need to give notice, merely send a letter to the tenant quoting the Notice and saying that you want them gone in 30 days (or later if you wish and specify).