Section 26 makes amendments to Chapter 4 of Part 6 of the Housing Act 2004. Subsections (2) to (4) make consequential amendments to the Housing Act 2004. The effect of these is to continue the requirement for deposits to be protected for new assured tenancies and tenancies that were assured shorthold tenancies immediately before the commencement date.
	Subsection (5) substitutes section 215 of the Housing Act 2004. The effect will be to require landlords who take a deposit for an assured tenancy to have ensured it is appropriately protected in line with the requirements in section 213 of the Housing Act 2004 before a court will award possession. This will apply to all grounds for possession in Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988, apart from grounds relating to serious crimes and anti-social behaviour (grounds 7A and 14).
	New section 215 sets out the conditions that must be met for a court to award possession. These are:
							Subsection (1) requires landlords to have protected the deposit in one of the authorised tenancy deposit schemes.
							Subsection (2) requires landlords to have complied with any requirements of the scheme that applied when the deposit was received. The landlord can comply with those requirements at any time.
							Subsection (3) requires landlords, to have complied with the requirements to give tenants certain information in respect of the deposit under:
	Section 213, subsection (5) of the Housing Act 2004, which states that landlords must give the tenant and any relevant person certain prescribed information about the protection of the deposit.
	Section 213, subsection (6)(a) of the Housing Act 2004, which requires landlords to provide this in the prescribed form or in a form that is substantially to the same effect (however a failure to comply with the time limit in section 213, subsection (6)(b) for the provision of this information is not a barrier to obtaining possession).
	New section 215, subsection (4) creates an exception for possession orders made on grounds 7A or 14, such that possession can be awarded on these grounds even if the deposit is not properly protected.
	New section 215, subsection (5) disapplies the requirements under subsections (1) to (3) if the deposit has been returned (either in full or with agreed deductions) or where an application to the court has been made under section 214, subsection (1) and has been determined by the court, withdrawn or settled by the parties.
	New section 215, subsection (6) prevents the granting of a possession order (on the grounds in Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988) by a court where a landlord has taken an unlawful deposit consisting of property other than money, until the unlawful deposit has been returned.
	New section 215, subsection (8) maintains the current position that a deposit does not need to be protected if the relevant periodic assured shorthold tenancy was created before 6 April 2007.
Part 1: Tenancy reform Chapter 1: Assured Tenancies Section 26: Tenancy deposit requirements Effect