Whether it became an SPT is up for discussion, but I suspect it would be upheld as one if it ever went to court given its explicitly stated in one of the terms.
Here is the discussion about it on here.
And no, given how torrid this tenancy has been in our opinion, we want to see the landlord face the repercussions for their actions.
The previous landlord I had definitely made a couple technical breaches of deposit protection, but they were helpful and friendly so we didn’t pursue. I’m hindsight, I wish I pointed out those breaches so they didn’t repeat them.