A landlord in England who takes a tenancy deposit must protect it in one of three authorised schemes and give the tenant the prescribed information, both within 30 days beginning with the day it is received. Otherwise a court must, if asked, award one to three times the deposit and cannot order possession except on Ground 7A or 14.
By Stevie Hayes · Updated 16 October 2026 · Figures checked against legislation.gov.uk and GOV.UK on 16 October 2026 · How we verify · Statutory penalties are maximums; councils and courts decide the amount.
| Fact | Position | Since / status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| The schemes | Deposit Protection Service, MyDeposits, Tenancy Deposit Scheme; custodial (free) or insurance (fee) | GOV.UK list | Deposit protection schemes and landlords (GOV.UK) |
| Protect by | Within 30 days beginning with the day of receipt: last compliant day is receipt plus 29 | s.213(3) | Housing Act 2004 s.213 (requirements relating to tenancy deposits: 30 days) |
| Prescribed information by | The same 30 days, in the prescribed form or one substantially to the same effect, to the tenant and any third-party payer | s.213(5), (6); SI 2007/797 art 2 | Housing (Tenancy Deposits) (Prescribed Information) Order 2007, SI 2007/797 art 2 |
| Cap | Five weeks' rent where annual rent is under £50,000; six weeks at £50,000 or more; holding deposit one week | TFA 2019 Sch 1 paras 2, 3 | Tenant Fees Act 2019 Sch 1 para 2 (deposit cap: five or six weeks' rent) |
| Tenant's claim | Court must award one to three times the deposit; repayment or protection order within 14 days | s.214(3), (3A), (4) | Housing Act 2004 s.214 (proceedings: repayment and one to three times the deposit) |
| Possession bar | No order while unprotected or information unserved, except Grounds 7A and 14; lifts on compliance, return, or a s.214 claim determined, withdrawn or settled | s.215, 1 May 2026 | Housing Act 2004 s.215 (sanctions: no possession order, substituted by RRA 2025 s.26) |
| Return | Scheme pays within 10 days beginning with notification of agreement or a final decision; insured: tenant may refer after 10 days unpaid | Sch 10 paras 4, 6 | Housing Act 2004 Sch 10 (custodial and insurance schemes; 10-day payment; absent tenant; disputes) |
| Renewals | Same scheme, same parties, same premises, original deposit compliant: treated as compliant for the new tenancy | s.215B | Housing Act 2004 s.215B (replacement tenancies treated as compliant) |
Under section 213 of the Housing Act 2004 any tenancy deposit paid in connection with an assured tenancy in England "must, as from the time when it is received, be dealt with in accordance with an authorised scheme". Since 1 May 2026 the section reads "assured tenancy" rather than "shorthold tenancy", because the Renters' Rights Act 2025 abolished assured shortholds and section 26 of that Act re-worded this Chapter (both commenced by SI 2026/421, regulation 2(a)). The content of the duty is the one that has applied to assured shortholds since 6 April 2007. The change of wording does not reach a tenancy that was already a non-shorthold assured tenancy before 1 May 2026 (Renters' Rights Act 2025 Sch 6, paragraph 11).
There are three authorised schemes for England and Wales, listed on GOV.UK: the Deposit Protection Service, MyDeposits and the Tenancy Deposit Scheme. Each offers two models, which Schedule 10 defines:
| Model | Who holds the money | Cost | At the end |
|---|---|---|---|
| Custodial | You pay the deposit into the scheme's designated account | Free | The scheme pays out within 10 days of being notified of what you have agreed, or of a final decision |
| Insurance ("insured") | You keep the deposit and pay the scheme a fee to insure it | A fee per deposit or membership | You repay the agreed amount; any disputed sum must be handed to the scheme to hold until it is resolved |
A "tenancy deposit" is any money held as security for the tenant's obligations or liabilities under the tenancy (s.212(8)), and references to the landlord include an agent acting for the landlord (s.212(9)(a)), so the duty is the same whether you or your agent took the money. Who paid it does not matter either: GOV.UK confirms a deposit paid by someone else, such as a tenant's parents or a rent deposit scheme, must still be protected, and the prescribed information must also go to that person (s.213(5), the "relevant person"). A deposit in anything other than money cannot be required at all (s.213(7)), and no possession order can be made until such property is returned (s.215(6)). England only; this guide describes the duty and is not advice on your tenancy.
Section 213 sets two duties with the same deadline.
"Beginning with" the day of receipt means that day is day one. The last compliant day is therefore receipt plus 29 days, not plus 30. A deposit received on 1 March must be protected and the information served by 30 March. The duties apply "despite any agreement to the contrary" (s.213(9)), so a clause in the tenancy agreement cannot extend them.
The prescribed information (article 2 of the 2007 Order) is: the scheme's name, address, telephone, email and any fax number; the scheme leaflet or its contents; the scheme's procedures for repayment at the end of the tenancy, for an uncontactable landlord or tenant, and for disputes, including its free dispute resolution service; and, for this tenancy, the amount of the deposit, the property address, the landlord's, tenant's and any third-party payer's contact details (including the details to be used to contact the tenant at the end of the tenancy), the circumstances in which the landlord may keep some or all of the deposit under the tenancy terms (art 2(1)(g)(vi)), and a certificate signed by the landlord that the information is accurate and that the tenant has been given the opportunity to sign any document containing it (art 2(1)(g)(vii)). Each scheme supplies a certificate or a prescribed-information template, and what they include differs. Compliance turns on whether every article 2 item has been given, whatever document carries it.
Two timing points. A holding deposit that is applied towards the tenancy deposit with the tenant's consent is treated as received on the date of the tenancy agreement (Tenant Fees Act 2019 Sch 2 para 7), so the 30 days begin with that date (last day: that date plus 29), not the day the holding deposit arrived. And where a tenancy is replaced by a new one between the same landlord and tenant for the same or substantially the same premises, and the deposit stays in the same scheme, the requirements are treated as complied with for the new tenancy, provided the deposit was protected and the prescribed information given for the original tenancy (s.215B). If the scheme changes, or the landlord, tenant or premises change (a change of sharers creates new parties), s.215B does not apply and compliance for the new tenancy has to be shown in its own right; a deposit returned and taken again is a new receipt with a new 30 days.
The Tenant Fees Act 2019, Schedule 1 paragraph 2, caps a tenancy deposit at five weeks' rent where the annual rent is under £50,000, and six weeks' rent where it is £50,000 or more. One week's rent is the annual rent divided by 52. Anything above the cap is a prohibited payment to the extent of the excess, and every sum held as security, including any sum described as a pet or cleaning deposit, counts towards the one cap.
A holding deposit, taken before the tenancy to reserve the property, is separate and capped at one week's rent (Sch 1 para 3). Under Schedule 2 it must be repaid within 7 days if the tenancy is granted (unless the tenant agrees it goes towards the first rent or the deposit), if the landlord withdraws, or if no agreement is reached by the "deadline for agreement": the fifteenth day of the period beginning with the day it was received, so receipt plus 14 days, unless a different day is agreed in writing (Sch 2 para 2). The repayment duty is subject to the exceptions in Sch 2 paragraphs 8 to 13, for example a right-to-rent disqualification, false or misleading information from the tenant, the tenant withdrawing, or the tenant failing to take reasonable steps to enter into the tenancy. GOV.UK confirms a holding deposit need not be protected; once the tenancy starts and it becomes part of the deposit, it must be.
Two consequences. Since 1 May 2026 the second also bars the possession order itself.
The tenant's claim. Under s.214 the tenant, or whoever paid the deposit for them, can apply to the county court during the tenancy or after it has ended, on the ground that s.213(3) or (6) was not complied with, or that the scheme named by the landlord cannot confirm it holds the deposit. If the court is satisfied, then while the tenancy continues it must order the deposit repaid or paid into a custodial scheme within 14 days (s.214(3)); once the tenancy has ended, it may order all or part repaid (s.214(3A)). In either case it must order the landlord to pay the tenant "a sum of money not less than the amount of the deposit and not more than three times the amount of the deposit" within 14 days (s.214(4)). Protecting late does not remove the claim: the court's power turns on whether s.213(3) or (6) "has not been complied with", and both carry the 30-day limit. The court decides where in the one-to-three range the award falls.
The possession bar. Section 215, substituted by the Renters' Rights Act 2025, provides that the court may make a possession order on an assured tenancy only if the deposit is held in an authorised scheme, the scheme's initial requirements have been complied with (late compliance counts: "whether or not within the period mentioned by section 213(3)"), and the prescribed information has been given in the required form (s.215(3) refers to s.213(5) and (6)(a), not to the 30-day limit in (6)(b), so late service also satisfies it). The bar does not apply to an order on Ground 7A or Ground 14 (s.215(4)), and it lifts where the deposit has been returned in full or with agreed deductions, or a s.214 claim has been determined, withdrawn or settled (s.215(5)). Before 1 May 2026 the same failures only blocked a Section 21 notice; now they block the order on every other Section 8 ground, including rent arrears. A possession claim issued before 1 May 2026 on a pre-commencement notice stays under the old regime until it concludes (Renters' Rights Act 2025 Sch 6 para 16). Our Section 8 grounds guide covers the mechanics.
Section 215 is tested when the court decides whether to make the order. Compliance, even late, or return of the deposit in full or with agreed deductions, satisfies it (s.215(2), (3), (5)). It does not answer the s.214 claim, which the tenant can still bring, including within the possession proceedings.
For a tenancy that began before 1 May 2026 as an assured shorthold, a tenant's s.214 claim is available only for a deposit paid on or after 6 April 2007 (s.214(1ZA)), and the protection limb of the possession bar is read the same way (s.215(8)). The "held in a scheme" and prescribed-information limbs in s.215(1) and (3) carry no date, so a pre-2007 deposit that is still unprotected can bar a possession order.
How long does a landlord have to return a deposit? No statutory period runs from move-out. The statute runs the clock from notification to the scheme or, in an insurance scheme, from the tenant's request. In a custodial scheme, once landlord and tenant notify the scheme of what they have agreed, the scheme must pay out "within the period of 10 days beginning with the date on which the notification is received" (Sch 10 para 4(3)), and the same 10 days apply after a final court decision or a binding adjudication (para 4(5)). In an insurance scheme the landlord repays directly; if the tenant has not received what they asked for within 10 days beginning with the request, they can notify the scheme, which directs the landlord to pay the outstanding amount into the scheme's account (para 6). GOV.UK summarises both as "within 10 days of you both agreeing how much they'll get back".
Deductions. What can be deducted depends on the tenancy terms, which the prescribed information must set out (SI 2007/797 art 2(1)(g)(vi)). For the absent-tenant route in a custodial scheme, Sch 10 para 4A(5) limits the claim to unpaid rent or other sums due under the tenancy, and damage to the premises or loss of or damage to property on them, other than fair wear and tear. Adjudication is decided on the evidence each side provides; a dated check-in and check-out inventory with photographs is the usual record. The same loss cannot be recovered twice.
Disputes go to the scheme's free alternative dispute resolution service if both sides agree to use it (consent can be deemed where a party fails to respond); otherwise to the county court. The scheme holds the disputed amount until the outcome. Where the tenant has disappeared, a custodial scheme lets the landlord apply for the sum claimed once 14 days have passed since the tenancy ended, supported by a statutory declaration, if there is no address for the tenant or the tenant has not answered a written request within 14 days (para 4A); the scheme then gives the tenant a further 14 days to respond before paying (para 4C).
The written statement of terms for a new tenancy must state the amount of any deposit where s.213 applies (SI 2026/324, Schedule paragraph 9). The landlord redress scheme provided for by Part 2 Chapter 3 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025, which the government calls the Private Rented Sector Ombudsman, has not yet been brought into force for landlords; the GOV.UK roadmap puts membership in 2028. Deposit disputes go to the scheme's resolution service or the court.
Government changes that bear on this duty. Where the status says in force the rule already applies; everything else is not yet law for private landlords. Dates are quoted as the government has published them, checked on 15 October 2026.
| Change | Status today | Published timing | Sensible preparation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mandatory membership of a Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman scheme | announced, dates to be confirmed | Government roadmap: landlords required to join "in 2028", after the Database launches; scheme conditions set during Phase 2 from 2026 | Keep a written complaints process and records of how tenant complaints were handled; the scheme will expect both. Source |
Thirty days beginning with the day it is received (Housing Act 2004 s.213(3)), so the last compliant day is 29 days after receipt. The prescribed information must be given to the tenant within the same period (s.213(6)).
There is no statutory period running from move-out. In a custodial scheme the scheme pays within 10 days beginning with the day it is notified of the agreement or of a final court or adjudication decision (Sch 10 para 4(3), (5)). In an insurance scheme you repay directly, and a tenant unpaid 10 days after asking can refer the outstanding amount to the scheme (para 6).
Five weeks' rent where the annual rent is under £50,000, six weeks' rent where it is £50,000 or more (Tenant Fees Act 2019 Sch 1 para 2). A holding deposit is separate and capped at one week's rent.
On the tenant's application the court must order the landlord to pay between one and three times the deposit (s.214(4)); while the tenancy continues it must also order the deposit repaid or protected within 14 days, and after it has ended it may order repayment. Separately, since 1 May 2026 the court may not make a possession order on any ground except 7A and 14 while the deposit is unprotected or the prescribed information has not been given (s.215).
Late protection, or returning the deposit, clears the possession bar in s.215, because s.215(2) counts compliance "whether or not within the period" and s.215(5) lifts the bar where the deposit has been returned or a s.214 claim determined, withdrawn or settled. Serving the prescribed information late does the same, because s.215(3) requires only compliance with s.213(5) and (6)(a), not the 30-day limit in (6)(b). None of this removes the tenant's s.214 claim for one to three times the deposit, which arises from the original failure.
Yes. The duty attaches to any money held as security under the tenancy whoever pays it, and the prescribed information must also go to the person who paid it (s.213(5), the "relevant person"). GOV.UK says the same for deposits paid by a tenant's parents or a rent deposit scheme.
Not if the deposit stays in the same scheme, the new tenancy is between the same landlord and tenant for the same or substantially the same premises, and the deposit was protected and the prescribed information given for the original tenancy: s.215B then treats the requirements as complied with. If the scheme or the parties change, s.215B does not apply and compliance has to be shown for the new tenancy; a deposit returned and re-taken is a new receipt with a new 30 days.
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See whether an unprotected deposit would bar a possession order. Runs in your browser; the app then runs the 30-day clock from the day each deposit arrives and records the scheme reference and the date the prescribed information was served.
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