Deposit letter › guide

Tenancy deposits in England: protection, the 30 days and disputes

When a tenant on an assured tenancy pays a deposit, the landlord has to protect it in one of three government-authorised schemes and give the tenant certain information about it. This page sets out what the Housing Act 2004 and the schemes say: the duty and its 30-day time limits, how to check a deposit is protected, what the county court can order when the rules weren't followed, the effect on possession claims since the Renters' Rights Act, and how disputes at the end of a tenancy are settled. It is information, not a finding about any tenancy.

The duty to protect the deposit

• A deposit paid in connection with an assured tenancy must be dealt with under an authorised scheme from the moment it is received (Housing Act 2004 s.213(1)). Since 1 May 2026, when assured shorthold tenancies became assured periodic tenancies, the section says "assured tenancy"; before then it said "shorthold tenancy" (Renters' Rights Act 2025 s.26).
• The landlord must meet the scheme's initial requirements, in effect protecting the deposit with it, within 30 days beginning with the day the deposit is received (s.213(3)).
• Within the same 30 days the landlord must give the tenant, and anyone who paid the deposit for them, the "prescribed information" about the scheme and the deposit, in the prescribed form or one substantially to the same effect (s.213(5) and (6)). GOV.UK lists what it covers: the property's address, the amount, how it is protected, the scheme's name and contact details and its dispute service, the landlord's or agent's name and contact details, the details of anyone else who paid it, why some or all of it might be kept, how to apply to get it back, and what to do if the landlord can't be contacted or there is a dispute at the end.
• A deposit can't be required in the form of property other than money (s.213(7)), and these rules apply whatever the tenancy agreement says (s.213(9)).
• The 2026 changes don't apply to a tenancy that, just before 1 May 2026, was an assured tenancy other than an assured shorthold (Renters' Rights Act 2025, Schedule 6 paragraph 11): those keep the rules as they were.
• A holding deposit, paid to reserve a home before the tenancy agreement, doesn't have to be protected; once the tenancy starts and it becomes a deposit, it does. A deposit paid by someone else, such as a parent or a rent deposit scheme, has to be protected too (GOV.UK).

The three schemes, and how to check a deposit is protected

In England a deposit can be protected with one of these. Each has a free search on its own website; the prescribed information should say which scheme holds the deposit.

GOV.UK's advice, if you're not sure whether a deposit is protected, is to contact the schemes; the DPS suggests asking the landlord or agent which scheme they used. That can be asked in writing, together with a copy of the prescribed information: the deposit letter does it in a few lines.

A claim in the county court

• The tenant, or anyone who paid the deposit for them, can apply to the county court if the deposit wasn't protected within the 30 days, if the prescribed information wasn't given within them, or if the landlord named a scheme but the scheme can't confirm it holds the deposit (s.214(1)). The application can also be made after the tenancy has ended (s.214(1A)). For a tenancy that was an assured shorthold before 1 May 2026, this applies to deposits paid on or after 6 April 2007 (s.214(1ZA)).
• If the court finds the rules weren't met, it must order the landlord to pay the applicant at least the amount of the deposit and no more than three times it, within 14 days (s.214(4)). While the tenancy continues it must also order the deposit to be repaid or paid into a scheme (s.214(3)); after it has ended it may order all or part of it repaid (s.214(3A)).
• GOV.UK says the claim is made on form N208, gives the court fee as £387 (reclaimable if the claim succeeds; help with fees is available on a low income), and says legal advice is worth getting first, though a solicitor isn't needed, and that writing to the landlord first can be quicker and cheaper.

Deposits and possession claims since 1 May 2026

Before 1 May 2026, an unprotected deposit stopped a landlord giving a section 21 ("no fault") notice. Section 21 has gone, and section 215 of the Housing Act 2004 was rewritten by the Renters' Rights Act. Where a deposit was paid, a court may now make a possession order only if:

• the deposit is being held in an authorised scheme (s.215(1));
• the scheme's initial requirements have been met, whether or not within the 30 days (s.215(2)); and
• the prescribed information has been given (s.215(3)).

This doesn't apply to a possession order made on Ground 7A or Ground 14 (the anti-social behaviour grounds) (s.215(4)), or where the deposit has been returned in full or with agreed deductions, or a claim under section 214 has been decided, withdrawn or settled (s.215(5)). A deposit taken as property other than money has to be returned before a possession order can be made (s.215(6)).

At the end of the tenancy: getting the deposit back, and disputes

• GOV.UK says the landlord must return the deposit within 10 days of the landlord and tenant agreeing how much the tenant gets back. While they disagree, the scheme keeps the deposit protected.
• Each scheme runs a free dispute resolution service (adjudication). GOV.UK says using it is optional, that both sides have to agree to it, that each is asked for evidence, and that the decision is final. The adjudicator decides on the evidence both sides provide: mydeposits says so of its own service.
• If the landlord can't be contacted, a tenant can raise a dispute with the scheme holding the deposit to get it back, and there may be a time limit for doing so (GOV.UK). The limits are each scheme's own: mydeposits, for example, asks for a request within three calendar months of moving out on its insured scheme. The scheme holding the deposit says what applies.

Fair wear and tear

A deduction is for damage, not for the ordinary deterioration of a home that is lived in. The Tenancy Deposit Scheme describes fair wear and tear as "the reasonable deterioration that occurs in a rental property over time, as a result of normal, everyday use", with examples such as faded paint or wallpaper, small scuffs, and worn carpets or curtains; and, beyond it, stains that cleaning won't remove, holes and tears, broken furniture or appliances, deep scratches, and water damage or mould caused by a tenant's negligence. What counts depends on the length of the tenancy, the number of occupants, the type of property and the quality of what was there. The schemes also say that a landlord can't use the deposit to end up better off than at the start ("betterment"; mydeposits), that the check-in and check-out inventories are the main evidence, and, in TDS's words, that "the burden of proof lies with landlords".

Questions

How long does a landlord have to protect a deposit?

30 days beginning with the day the deposit is received, both to protect it in an authorised scheme and to give the tenant the prescribed information (Housing Act 2004 section 213).

How do I check whether my deposit is protected?

Each of the three schemes, the Deposit Protection Service, mydeposits and the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, has a free search on its website. The prescribed information the landlord gives should name the scheme.

What can the court order if a deposit wasn't protected?

If the court finds the deposit wasn't protected, or the prescribed information wasn't given, within the 30 days, it must order the landlord to pay the applicant at least the amount of the deposit and no more than three times it (section 214(4)), as well as dealing with the deposit itself.

Who decides a dispute about deductions?

Each scheme has a free dispute resolution service. Using it is optional and both sides have to agree to it; an adjudicator decides on the evidence both provide, and the decision is final.