What are the tenancy deposit protection regulations?
Learn about the deposit protection regulations and what is 'prescribed information'
If you take a deposit from your tenant, it must be protected in one of the three government-approved tenancy deposit protection (TDP) schemes within 30 days of receipt. You or your agent can either:
transfer the money to the scheme, known as a ‘Custodial’ scheme
hold on to the money and take out insurance with the scheme, known as an ‘Insured’ scheme
You must also provide your tenant with ‘prescribed information’ relating to the TDP scheme and the tenancy within 30 days.
See next section for more information on the available schemes.
There are two consequences of not protecting your tenant’s deposit and not providing them with the prescribed information:
They could take you to court for a penalty of up to three times the deposit amount
You will not be able to serve a valid Section 21 notice
Be aware that some legal companies offer services to tenants to make claims against landlords for not protecting deposits.
Read more about landlord fines and how you can avoid them.
As long as the deposit money has been registered with a TDP scheme provider and insured, then you can keep the deposit in your bank account.
Once you have received a deposit, you must protect it and provide your tenant with the following information within 30 days:
The address of the property they’re renting
The deposit amount received
How the deposit is protected, together with the name and contact details of the TDP scheme and its dispute resolution service
Your or your letting agent’s name and contact details
Why some or all of the deposit could be retained
How to apply to get the deposit back
What to do if the landlord cannot be contacted at the end of the tenancy
What to do if there’s a dispute over the deposit
mydeposits
Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS)
Deposit Protection Service (DPS)
If you have any questions about underinsurance or would like to discuss landlord insurance with one of our experts, please contact the Total Landlord team on0800 63 43 880 or email enquiries@totallandlordinsurance.co.uk
