157.The Act makes provision about deposit scheme requirements. The provisions requiring the use of deposit schemes must be incorporated into all occupation contracts without modification. This means that all occupation contracts will include requirements about deposit schemes, similar to those that currently apply to Assured Shorthold Tenancies. The requirements will apply equally to private and community landlords. Schedule 5 sets out additional provisions relating to the protection of deposits.
158.Paragraph 1 requires the Welsh Ministers to make arrangements for the availability of deposit schemes, and allows the Welsh Ministers to make payments etc. to scheme administrators. The paragraph also includes a power for the Welsh Ministers to make regulations, conferring powers and imposing duties on scheme administrators.
159.Paragraph 2 applies where an occupation contract is ongoing. If a landlord does not arrange for a deposit to be held in accordance with an authorised deposit scheme, or fails to comply with certain requirements (including the requirements of section 45(2)), the contract-holder, or a person who paid a deposit on his or her behalf, may apply to the court for a remedy. If the court is satisfied that the landlord has not complied with the requirements, or is not satisfied that the deposit is being held in accordance with an authorised deposit scheme, it must either order the deposit to be repaid or order it to be paid into a custodial deposit scheme (defined in the paragraph), if one is in existence. The court must also order the landlord to pay a sum of money to the applicant, which can be up to three times the amount of the deposit. Paragraph 3 provides a similar right to apply to the court for a remedy in situations where the occupation contract has ended, but the landlord did not comply with certain requirements relating to deposits
160.Where the landlord and contract-holder enter into an occupation contract that immediately follows a previous contract (in relation to the same, or substantially the same, dwelling), paragraph 4 provides for the deposit paid in relation to the first contract to apply to the substitute contract, and any further substitute contracts. Therefore, if the landlord complied with the requirements in relation to the deposit with respect to the first contract, there is no requirement to re-protect a deposit.