Tenancy deposit protection deadlines: 30 days, the prescribed information and the penalties

A tenancy deposit must be put into a government-approved scheme within 30 days of receiving it, and the tenant must be given a set of prescribed information about it in the same 30 days. Both deadlines run from the day the money arrives, not the day the tenancy starts, and both apply to the landlord whether or not an agent handles the money. The GOV.UK guide for landlords is the source for this page; the figures for what happens when the deadline is missed are at the end.

The two 30-day deadlines

1. Protect the deposit. Register it with one of the three schemes below within 30 days of getting it. Record the date the money was received and the date the scheme confirmed protection, because the second one is what a tenant or a court will ask for.
2. Give the prescribed information. Within the same 30 days the tenant, and anyone who paid the deposit on their behalf, must be told in writing: the address of the property; how much was paid; how the deposit is protected; the name and contact details of the scheme; the landlord's (or the agent's) name and contact details; any third party who paid; the reasons deductions might be made; how to apply for the deposit back at the end; what to do if the landlord cannot be contacted; and what to do if there is a dispute about the amount returned.

The scheme's certificate on its own is not the prescribed information; it is one part of it. Keep a dated copy of the whole pack you sent, and how you sent it.

The three schemes

In England and Wales the approved schemes are the Deposit Protection Service, MyDeposits and the Tenancy Deposit Scheme. Each runs two models: custodial, where the scheme holds the money for free, and insured, where the landlord or agent keeps the money and pays the scheme to insure it. Which model is used changes who holds the cash, not the deadlines.

What does not need protecting

• A holding deposit taken to reserve a property before an agreement is signed.
• A valuable item given instead of money.

A holding deposit is still regulated: under the Tenant Fees Act it is capped at one week's rent and there are rules on when it must be returned, so record the date it was taken and the date it was returned or applied to the first rent.

The cap on the deposit itself

Since 1 June 2019 a tenancy deposit in England is capped at five weeks' rent where the annual rent is under £50,000, and six weeks' rent at or above it. Anything above the cap is a prohibited payment under the Tenant Fees Act, with its own penalties, which are listed on the landlord penalties page.

At the end of the tenancy: 10 days

Once landlord and tenant have agreed how much is to be returned, the deposit must be paid back within 10 days of that agreement. Where there is a dispute, the scheme's free resolution service decides, and the evidence it weighs is the check-in inventory, the check-out report and the dated record of anything that happened in between. That is why the inventory belongs with the tenancy record, not in an inbox.

What a court can order when a deposit was not protected

If the deposit was not protected, or the prescribed information was not given, the tenant can apply to the county court. The court can order the landlord to repay the deposit, or to pay it into a custodial scheme within 14 days, and it can also order the landlord to pay the tenant up to three times the deposit within 14 days. In England, since 1 May 2026, a court can make a possession order on most grounds only if the deposit is held in an approved scheme and the prescribed information was given, under section 215 of the Housing Act 2004 as rewritten by the Renters’ Rights Act. Protecting the deposit late does not undo the breach; it limits it.

What to record for every tenancy

• Deposit amount, and the weekly rent it was checked against for the cap.
• Date received; date protected; scheme and reference; custodial or insured.
• Date the prescribed information was given, to whom, and a copy of it.
• Holding deposit: amount, date taken, what happened to it.
• At the end: date the amount was agreed, date returned, any dispute reference.

In Verixad the deposit and its protection date are recorded on the tenancy, the certificate and the prescribed information are filed against it, and the dates show on the tenancy's page beside the agreement and the inventory. See tenancies. Deposits are one line of the certificate and records checklist; the rest of a landlord's duties at the start of a tenancy are in the landlord compliance checklist.