There are just  days left in which to protect historic tenancy deposits.

If landlords do not comply, they face thousands of pounds in fines.

The new Deregulation Act relates to deposits received before April 6, 2007, and gives landlords until June 23 to register them in a government approved scheme.

Otherwise they face a penalty of between one and three times the value of the deposit, and restrictions on regaining possession of their property.

If landlords do not give tenants the Prescribed Information, they still face a fine, even if the deposit is protected by June 23.

If a tenancy renewed on a periodic basis before April 6, 2007, deposit protection is not compulsory. However the landlord will still be prevented from regaining possession using the standard Section 21 notice unless they protect or return the money.

Steve Harriott, chief executive of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, said the Act has highlighted that many landlords have failed to protect deposits even under existing laws.

He said: “We have seen a surge in landlords contacting us in recent weeks. Many have only just become aware that they should have already protected deposits – a reminder that thousands of landlords have been falling foul of deposit protection law, often unknowingly.”

The new law has also been the source of great relief for landlords and letting agents. The Court of Appeal decision in Superstrike v Rodrigues (2013) implied that landlords could be penalised for not serving new prescribed information to tenants at every renewal even if circumstances had not changed.

However, the Act makes clear that prescribed information only need to be re-issued if there is a change of tenants, landlord, property, or tenancy deposit protection scheme.

To encourage those with unprotected deposits to act, landlords are being given a 50% reduction in online deposit protection fees by TDS if registering for the first time.

Landlords can access the discount by visiting the TDS site here and joining by June 23. The scheme is free to join, and with the discount, landlords can protect deposits from £7.35 per deposit.

More information is here