Ferguson v Jones, Birmingham County Court 5 Nov 2008 concerned an assured shorthold tenancy. Ms Jones had paid a deposit of £500, which was not put into a scheme within the initial 14 days. In fact it was not put into a scheme by the landlord until after the landlord had brought a possession claim (presumably not on a s.21 notice) and Ms Jones had counterclaimed for disrepair and for the three time the value of the deposit under s214(2) and (3) HA 2004.

DJ Sheldrake held that the court had no discretion under s.214(4) and had to order the payment. The provision requiring the deposit to be protected within 14 days of receipt would be otiose if the landlord could escape the penalty by later compliance. That they should not was clearly parliament’s intention.

This is a County Court judgment, as have been all the reported cases so far, so there is no binding precedent on the matter. This judgment does run against the tide of the recent decisions, particularly Harvey v Bamforth, but it does make clear that, rather disappointingly for all concerned, whether late compliance will cause a claim to fail is a complete lottery at present (except presumably in Sheffield, where I would imagine HHJ Bullimore’s view is followed by the District Judges).

Anyone advising on a claim will just have to advise on the risk that late compliance may, or may not, defeat the claim. Tenants acting in person – surely the large majority in such cases, or indeed landlords, are not going to have any certainty at all. Someone take this to a higher court, please.

[For all tenancy deposit case posts click here]

In the social welfare category, two of the three are housing people. Dawn McPherson of Fisher Meredith, well known for her specialist ASB work, and Mike McIlvaney of Community Law Partnership, occasional commentor here and friend of the blog in the ‘phone call every six months’ sense (sorry Mike, couldn’t resist).

In the Legal Aid Barrister category is Robert Latham of Doughty Street, and in the Young Legal Aid Barrister category are John Beckley of Garden Court and Ben McCormack of Garden Court North. All no doubt well known to many of us.

A good, nay deserved, showing by housing specialists overall. NL, naturally, isn’t going to play favourites, apart from the housing thing, of course. As far as I’m concerned, they’re all winners, and anyway its the journey that is important. (I may have caught a little too much Strictly Come Dancing). I hope they all enjoy the night with Cherie Booth QC.

• Criminal Defence
• Mental Health
• Family
• Legal aid firm/not-for-profit-agency
• Young Solicitor
• Barrister
• Immigration and Asylum
• Social and Welfare
• Young Barrister
• And the Outstanding Achievement award

Nominations are to be in by the end of October and forms are available at the link above. There are some quite amusing conjunctions in the sponsorship to spot.

NL thinks we are all completely wonderful, apart from the few that aren’t. But if you know a colleague or practice whose ‘above and beyondness’ deserves a public pat on the back from Cherie Booth QC, now is the chance. I’m pretty sure housing comes under social and welfare.