Landlords deposit protection

Tenancy Deposit Protection – Privately Renting

If you are looking to rent a property and are required to pay a deposit to a private landlord, your landlord will have a legal duty to safeguard and register the money in a Government authorised scheme known as the Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme.

Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme (TDPS) applies to all assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs) in England and Wales, where money has been taken as a deposit.

Your landlord or letting agent has 30 days in which to put to your deposit into the TDP Scheme and you can contact the schemes if you aren’t sure whether your deposit has been protected.

Deposits can be registered with the following organisations.

• Deposit Protection Service
• mydeposits
• Tenancy Deposit Scheme

They make sure you’ll get your deposit back if you:

• Meet the terms of your tenancy agreement
• You or your guest don’t damage the property
• You pay your rent and bills

At the end of your tenancy your landlord must return your deposit within 10 days of you both agreeing how much you’ll get back.

If you aren’t in agreement with your landlord then your deposit will remain protected in the TDP Scheme until the matter is resolved.

If you think your landlord hasn’t used a TDP Scheme then you can apply to your local county court. If the court decides that your landlord hasn’t protected your deposit, it can order the person holding the deposit to either:

• Repay it to you
• Pay it into a TDP Scheme’s bank account within 14 days
• The court may order the landlord to pay you up to 3 times the deposit with 14 days of making the order
• The court may also decide that you don’t have to leave the property when the tenancy ends in your landlord hasn’t used a TDP scheme when they should have

For further information on protecting deposits and contact numbers please visit the government's website