What rights does a landlord have if the tenant has stopped paying rent but the landlord has not protected their deposit?

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Asking on behalf of a friend. What rights does a landlord have if their tenant has stopped paying their rent but the landlord did not protect the deposit?

I made this error years ago, and was taken to court by my tenants, who had also left my house in a state. We went for mediation, I did not have to pay any fine/compensation and my tenants only received a portion of their deposit due to the state of the house. I'd served a section 21 and they did move out within the 2 months, no rent arrears.

The deposit scheme was relatively new at that point though, it's been well known now for a very long time so I'm not sure a judge would be so lenient. I'd say the best course of action is negotiation with the tenant to see if they'll leave the property, forget about the arrears and give them the full deposit back, hopefully they'll be amenable otherwise it could be a very costly mistake

Your friend won’t be making this mistake again in a hurry.

Your friend could be sued for up to 3 times the amount of the deposit

The landlord can still serve notice but it won’t be easy for them to evict, it’s ridiculously difficult even when the landlord has done everything right.

Even though the landlord was wrong not to protect the deposit, if the tenant continues to live in the property without paying rent, they are a huge theiving arsehole.

Can the tenant claim housing benefit?

Landlord cannot serve a s21 notice until deposit returned
However they can still serve a notice seeking possession relying on ground 8 (mandatory) If two months arrears owed at date of notice and hearing,and discretionary grounds 10 and 11 if rent owed or persistently paid late.
However, tenant can counterclaim for 3 x the deposit which could reduce arrears below the ground 8 threshold

Your friend needs to consult with a solicitor, but mediation/talking to the tenants about their situation and likelihood of paying at least some of the rent is probably preferable to trying to evict them.

Have the tenants not applied for UC, which should include an allowance for a major part of the rent?

Agree with PP that the deposit must be protected as a matter of urgency.

Should add, the landlord needs to make sure they have complied with all the other legal requirements, i.e. gas and electrical safety certification, EPS, Guide to Rent, deposit scheme T&C, smoke and carbon monoxide monitors........ have I left anything out...

Not using the deposit scheme is a ridiculous measure.

but as for the tenant - we work with ours if this happens and we help them apply for housing benefit etc in the meantime until
they are back on their feet. Most of ours are long term 5+ years and we’ve only had to do it a handful of times.

if tenants don’t pay or are late we start off nicely - talking to them etc. offering alternative payment plans so they pay something rather than nothing. We make sure they have access to food banks or anything else they need.

If they are just being dicks and not working with us or communicating with us. We start legal action to evict. only had to do it twice in 15 years.

I think if Ll not protected deposit then tenant can go to court and claim 3 X deposit back from LL.

I hope the tenant gets the full 3x deposit back to help them at this job loss time. Landlords should be professional - I wouldn’t be researching stuff for a friend who didn’t bother to operate properly.

Refund the deposit.
Try and get the gas cert.

serve Section 8
wait for 6-8 months until they finally evict the tennant.

Theyll be a delay of another 3 months for not having the gas cert.

it’ll cost £3-4k PLUS lost rent and possibly more damage to the property.

Or your friend could be pragmatic and offer the tenant some money to move out.
I mean 5- 6 months rent.