Tenancy deposit protection: the rules for landlords in 2026

The three schemes, and which type to pick

Every deposit taken on an assured tenancy in England has to sit in one of three government-approved schemes: the Deposit Protection Service, MyDeposits, or the Tenancy Deposit Scheme. They are equivalent in law; the choice between them is about service and price, not compliance.

Each one runs in two ways, and this is the decision that actually matters:

• Custodial — you hand the deposit to the scheme and it holds the money for the length of the tenancy. It’s free, and at the end the scheme pays out once both sides agree. Simplest for most landlords.
• Insured — you keep the deposit in your own account and pay the scheme a fee to insure it. Useful if you want the cash to hand, but you carry the duty to repay it and to fund any award.

The 30-day clock

You have 30 days from receiving the deposit to protect it. The same 30 days apply to serving the prescribed information. The clock starts when the money reaches you, not when the tenancy begins, so a deposit taken weeks before move-in still has to be protected within 30 days of payment. Treat protecting the deposit and serving the information as a single job done the day the money lands.

What the prescribed information has to include

The prescribed information is the written set of details you give the tenant after protecting the deposit. It must cover:

• The amount of the deposit and the address of the property.
• The name and contact details of the scheme holding it, and its information leaflet.
• Your name and contact details (and the agent’s, if you use one), and the tenant’s.
• How the deposit can be returned, the circumstances in which you can keep some of it, and how a dispute is resolved.
• What happens if the tenant can’t get hold of you at the end of the tenancy.

How much you can take

The deposit itself is capped by the Tenant Fees Act 2019: five weeks’ rent where the total annual rent is under £50,000, and six weeks’ rent where it is £50,000 or more. A holding deposit — taken to reserve a property while checks run — is capped separately at one week’s rent. Taking more than the cap is itself a prohibited payment, so the limit and the protection rules go together.

What it costs to get it wrong

Deposit claims are among the most common a landlord faces, because they don’t need a missing certificate or a damaged property — just a missed deadline. If you fail to protect the deposit, or fail to serve the prescribed information, the tenant can apply to the county court. The court can order you to repay the deposit or protect it, and to pay the tenant a penalty of between one and three times the deposit. On a five-week deposit that runs into thousands, and the tenant doesn’t have to have lost anything to claim it.

The end of Section 21 changed the backdrop here. Until 1 May 2026 an unprotected deposit also blocked a no-fault eviction; with Section 21 gone, the financial penalty is the live consequence, and it bites whether or not the tenancy has ended.

Getting the deposit back at the end

When the tenancy ends and you and the tenant agree how much each gets, the deposit has to be returned within 10 days of that agreement. If you can’t agree — over cleaning, damage or unpaid rent — every scheme runs a free dispute resolution service. An independent adjudicator decides based on the evidence, so a clear inventory and dated photos at check-in and check-out are what win these. While a dispute runs, the money stays protected in the scheme until it’s settled.

The quick checklist

• Pick a scheme and a type (custodial is free and simplest).
• Keep the deposit within the cap: five weeks’ rent, or six if annual rent is £50,000+.
• Protect the deposit within 30 days of receiving it.
• Serve the prescribed information within the same 30 days.
• Hold a signed inventory with dated photos at check-in.
• Return the deposit within 10 days of agreeing the figures, or use the scheme’s free adjudication.

Common questions