Return of Deposit for rented house

[Deiwos]

Hi all,

I'm just wondering if anyone knows how long a landlord can take (legally) to return my deposit? I moved out a month ago, after cleaning the house from top to bottom and confirming with the local agent that everything was ok, and that we didn't need to do anything else with the property. I've checked my contract and there's nothing in there saying how long they can hold my deposit for, just that once they agree to return it, they have to within 10 days of agreeing. I've been on the phone to them almost every day, and every time I get a different answer as to when it'll be, with them blaming the cleaning contractors for the delay.

Does anyone know how long they can legally hold my deposit without saying when it will be returned?

 

[Deiwos]

When did the tenancy commence?

Started 1st September 2008, finished 1st September 2009.

 

[Deiwos]

From what I can find out, the only legal limits are when they confirm that they are returning the deposit, they have 10 days to pay it back.

I'm going to contact the CAB tomorrow and see what they have to say. The Dispute Service (who the deposit is held with) have said to give them another week, and then consider filing a dispute with them, but I'll see what the CAB say from a legal perspective.