Deposit protection schemes and landlords

You must place your tenants’ deposit in a tenancy deposit protection (TDP) scheme if you rent out your home on an assured shorthold tenancy that started after 6 April 2007.

If you receive a valuable item as a deposit instead of money (for example a car or watch), you don’t have to put it in a TDP.

These government-backed schemes ensure your tenants will get their deposit back if they:

  • Meet the terms of your tenancy agreement
  • Don’t damage the property
  • Pay the rent and bills

You (or your letting agent) must put your tenants’ deposit in the scheme within 30 days of getting it.

Available schemes

You can use any of the following schemes if your property is in England or Wales:

All TDP schemes offer you 2 options:

  • The scheme hold the deposit for free – known as a ‘custodial’ scheme
  • You or the agent holds the deposit and you pay the scheme to insure it – known as an ‘insured’ scheme

At the end of the tenancy

The deposit must be returned to your tenants within 10 days of you both agreeing how much they’ll get back.

If you’re in a dispute with your tenants

The deposit is protected in the scheme until the issue is settled.

If you’re in an ‘insured’ scheme, you or the agent must give the deposit to the TDP scheme. They will hold it until the issue is settled.

Holding deposits

If you’ve received a holding deposit from your future tenants (money to ‘hold’ a property before an agreement is signed), you don’t have to protect it. Once they become tenants the holding deposit becomes a deposit, and you must protect it.

Deposits made by a third party

You must use a TDP scheme even if the deposit is paid by someone else, like a rent deposit scheme or a tenant’s parents.

Information you must give to your tenants

Within 30 days of getting their deposit, you must tell your tenants:

  • The address of the rented property
  • How much deposit they’ve paid
  • How the deposit is protected
  • The name and contact details of the tenancy deposit protection (TDP) scheme and its dispute resolution service
  • Your (or your letting agency’s) name and contact details
  • The name and contact details of any third party who paid the deposit
  • Why you would keep some or all of the deposit – for example, because your tenants damaged the property and you need to fix it
  • How to apply to get the deposit back at the end of the tenancy
  • What to do if they can’t get hold of you at the end of the tenancy
  • What to do if there’s a dispute over the amount of deposit to be returned at the end of the tenancy
Contact your local council if you’re unsure about whether you can get a discount or who’s responsible for paying.

If you don’t protect your tenants’ deposit

Your tenants can apply to a county court if you don’t use a tenancy deposit protection (TDP) scheme when you have to. They can do this at any time during the tenancy.

If the court finds you haven’t protected the deposit, it can order you to either:

  • Repay it to your tenants
  • Pay it into a custodial TDP scheme’s bank account within 14 days

At the end of the tenancy

The court may also decide that your tenants don’t have to leave the property when the tenancy ends if you didn’t use a TDP scheme when you should have.

Disputes

Use your tenancy deposit protection (TDP) scheme’s free dispute resolution service if you disagree with your tenants about how much deposit should be returned.

Contact your TDP scheme for more information on the dispute resolution service. The schemes are:

Help and advice