Private rent deposit

[stinkysox]

I moved into a private rent in October 2012. It was privately advertised, not with EA. Bond was £500 but LL said she would take £350, and make up the £150 herself if I did a few jobs. These included replacing 3 fence panels in the garden. I did the jobs. In May 2013 LL sold the house and I moved into another one of her properties. New contract stated my bond was £500. LL has now sold this house as well and I'm moving next week (despite her word that this one wouldn't be sold for at least 5 years)
I've spoken to her today and she has said I won't be getting my whole deposit back. She said she had to pay new buyer of previous house money for a skip to remove old fence panels from the garden, and the work I did doesn't amount to £150.
I said that if there was a problem with the last house then it should've been taken from that deposit-not this one. She said it doesn't matter, I still owe her.
I've no idea if the deposit was protected, I also never received a gas safety certificate for either house.
Can she keep this money?
Tia

She should have protected your deposit with a government approved scheme. If she didn't you could take her to court and she might have to pay you three times the original deposit.

Also, its not clear whether you've chosen to leave or she has asked you to. But if the deposit issue is unresolved then she would have problems getting a court to back up an eviction.

Have a look on the shelter website. If you're still unclear they have a good telephone advice line.

Hopefully you won't have to follow through eg with legal action - making it clear that you know the position is normally enough.

Thanks for the reply. The new buyer of this house happens to be an investor, so I would've been able to stay but I didn't know who was going to buy it obviously, so I was looking elsewhere. Coincidentally, her selling and me finding another house happened on the same day. My contract ran out months ago and was never renewed.