Can accelerated possession proceedings be utilised to advance a counterclaim for a deposit penalty where the issue is whether the tenant’s deposit was protected when the landlord served a notice under s 21 of the Housing Act 1988?
Yes. There is a small practical difficulty, however, in that CPR 55.14 provides for the relevant defence to the claim to be in form N11B which does not include a section for a counterclaim. The counterclaim should be separately produced and it would be prudent for the form and the counterclaim to be stapled together when filed.
