Quick Answers
How long do I have to protect a deposit?
30 days from the date the deposit is received. Both protection registration and service of the prescribed information must be completed within that 30-day window. Day 31 is a breach. The clock runs from receipt, not from when the tenancy starts.
What happens if the deposit is not protected?
The tenant can claim a penalty of one to three times the deposit amount in the county court. You cannot serve a valid Section 8 notice on any ground until the deposit is protected and prescribed information is served. Fixing it after the deadline does not remove the penalty exposure for the period of non-compliance.
Does protection need to be renewed each year?
No. A validly protected deposit with properly served prescribed information continues to cover the tenancy without renewal. It does not expire when a fixed term ends or when the tenancy became periodic on 1 May 2026. A new 30-day clock only starts if a new deposit is received.
The two-part requirement: protecting the deposit in an approved scheme within 30 days of receipt is one obligation. Serving the prescribed information document on the tenant (and any relevant person) within those same 30 days is a separate, equally important obligation. Landlords who protect the deposit but never send the prescribed information have the same penalty exposure as landlords who never protected at all.
The Section 8 consequence: before the Renters' Rights Act, a landlord with unprotected deposit issues could still serve a Section 21 notice once the protection was remedied in some circumstances. Section 21 no longer exists. Section 8 is the only possession route, and deposit non-compliance is a prerequisite bar to it. Identifying and fixing deposit failures is now a possession-critical obligation, not just a penalty risk.
Key Takeaways
There are two separate obligations, both within 30 days
Protection registration with the scheme and service of the prescribed information document are distinct obligations that both must be completed within 30 days of the deposit being received. Satisfying one without the other is a breach. Many landlords protect promptly but never send the prescribed information, assuming the scheme confirmation email is sufficient. It is not.
The penalty is per breach, not per tenancy
Where both obligations are missed (deposit not protected and prescribed information not served), the court may treat these as two separate breaches, each attracting a penalty of one to three times the deposit amount. The maximum combined exposure can be significant on higher-value deposits. Courts have discretion in setting the multiplier and have awarded the full three times for deliberate or egregious non-compliance.
Late protection does not eliminate the penalty exposure
Landlords who discover an unprotected deposit and register it late sometimes believe this has "cured" the breach. It has not. The penalty runs from the date the 30-day window expired. Late registration is still a breach for the period between the deadline and the actual protection date. The tenant can still claim for that period. Late registration does remove the ongoing Section 8 bar once completed, which is why it should be done immediately even knowing it does not eliminate the historic liability.
The deposit cap matters too
Since the Tenant Fees Act 2019, deposits for tenancies with annual rent under £50,000 are capped at five weeks' rent. For tenancies with annual rent between £50,000 and £100,000, the cap is six weeks' rent. Accepting a deposit above the cap is itself a breach, and the excess must be returned. Landlords who collected deposits before the 2019 cap and still hold excess amounts are carrying a compliance gap that predates and is separate from the protection obligation.
Re-serving prescribed information is sometimes required
Where material changes occur during a tenancy — a change of landlord, a change of scheme, an addition of a new tenant, or a change in the identity of the person holding the deposit — the prescribed information may need to be re-served. Landlords who have never reviewed their prescribed information since the original tenancy start may be operating on outdated documentation. This matters if possession proceedings become necessary and the tenant challenges the validity of the documentation.
Inventories are not a deposit protection obligation but they determine deduction outcomes
Deposit protection is the legal prerequisite. Whether the landlord can actually recover anything from the deposit at the end of the tenancy depends on evidence: a detailed check-in inventory with photographs, a matching check-out inventory, and a clear record of any damage or deterioration beyond fair wear and tear. A landlord with a properly protected deposit but no inventory is compliant on protection but will lose every disputed deduction at the scheme's ADR service.
What the Rules Actually Require
The tenancy deposit protection regime was introduced by the Housing Act 2004 and has been in force since April 2007. Despite nearly two decades in operation, it generates more compliance failures than almost any other landlord obligation. The rules are not complex. The problem is that landlords who have been operating without incident for years assume the rules are simpler than they are.
The requirements, stated plainly:
- Protect the deposit in an approved scheme within 30 days of receipt. The day the deposit money arrives in the landlord's account (or agent's account) is day one. The deadline is day 30. There is no grace period.
- Serve the prescribed information on the tenant within 30 days of receipt. The prescribed information must be served on the tenant and on any relevant person (typically a guarantor or the person who paid the deposit on behalf of the tenant). Serving it on the tenant's solicitor, or including it in the tenancy agreement pack without specifically drawing attention to it, may not satisfy the obligation.
- The scheme must be approved by the government. There are three: DPS, MyDeposits, and TDS. Using an unapproved scheme, or holding the deposit in a client account and treating that as protection, does not comply.
- The deposit must not exceed the statutory cap. Five weeks' rent for tenancies with annual rent under £50,000. Six weeks for those between £50,000 and £100,000.
The Three Approved Schemes
Deposit Protection Service
DPS — dps.co.ukOne of the original schemes. Operates both a custodial (free) and an insured option. The custodial scheme holds the deposit funds directly; the insured scheme allows the landlord to retain the deposit with insurance against failure to repay.
ADR service included. Available online and via app.
Custodial InsuredMyDeposits
mydeposits.co.ukPopular with landlords and letting agents. Operates an insured scheme where the landlord holds the deposit and pays an annual or per-tenancy fee for insurance cover. Custodial option also available.
Online registration. Dispute resolution service included.
Custodial InsuredTenancy Deposit Scheme
TDS — tenancydepositscheme.comThe original scheme, now operating both custodial and insured options. Widely used by managing agents and professional landlords. Strong ADR track record. Custodial scheme is free to use.
Comprehensive documentation available. Dispute resolution included.
Custodial InsuredIn a custodial scheme, the deposit funds are transferred to the scheme and held there until the tenancy ends. The landlord no longer has access to the money. In an insured scheme, the landlord retains the deposit funds and pays a fee; the insurance guarantees the tenant will receive their deposit back even if the landlord fails to repay. Both are compliant. The practical difference is cash flow: custodial removes the deposit from the landlord's control; insured allows the landlord to retain the funds. Landlords who use an insured scheme but do not pay the annual or per-tenancy fee, or whose insurance has lapsed, may not be validly protected.
Prescribed Information: The Forgotten Obligation
The prescribed information obligation is the one that catches most landlords out. Protecting the deposit is a relatively obvious step. Serving a specific document containing specific information within the same 30-day window is less visible, particularly for landlords who manage their own properties without professional support.
The prescribed information must include all of the following:
The name, address, and contact details of the scheme in which the deposit is held
The scheme's terms and conditions (or a link to where these can be accessed)
How the tenant can apply to the scheme for repayment of the deposit at the end of the tenancy
What the tenant should do if they cannot reach agreement with the landlord about deductions
How the scheme's dispute resolution process (ADR) works
The landlord's name, address, and contact details
The address of the tenanted property
The amount of the deposit protected and the date on which it was received
The circumstances in which the landlord proposes to make deductions, as agreed at the outset of the tenancy
Each scheme provides a prescribed information template. Using the scheme's own template is the simplest way to ensure all required elements are included. Landlords who draft their own version risk omitting a required element and invalidating the service.
The Section 8 Connection: Why This Matters More Than It Used To
The connection between deposit protection compliance and the ability to serve a Section 8 notice has existed since 2015, but it has become more consequential since 1 May 2026.
Before the Renters' Rights Act, a landlord with deposit compliance failures had two possession routes: Section 21 (no-fault, easier to serve) and Section 8 (fault-based, requires a ground). Deposit non-compliance blocked Section 8 in most cases but, for landlords with validly protected deposits who had simply failed to serve prescribed information, there was sometimes a route through Section 21 once remedied.
Since 1 May 2026, Section 21 has been repealed. Section 8 is the only possession route. The prerequisite bar for Section 8 is that the deposit must be protected and prescribed information must have been served. A landlord who cannot satisfy this prerequisite cannot serve a Section 8 notice on any ground — not arrears, not antisocial behaviour, not Ground 1 to sell. The bar applies to all grounds.
The practical consequence is that any landlord who discovers a deposit compliance failure and needs to recover possession must:
- Protect the deposit immediately (if not already done)
- Serve the prescribed information immediately
- Accept that the penalty risk for the period of non-compliance remains
- Only then serve the Section 8 notice on the relevant ground
Some landlords believe that protecting the deposit and serving prescribed information on Monday allows them to serve a Section 8 notice on Tuesday. The position is not entirely clear-cut: courts have taken the view that the prerequisite relates to the position at the time the notice is served, so remedying before service should remove the bar. But where a tenant challenges the notice on the basis that the deposit was not protected when the tenancy problems arose, or where the notice is served very shortly after remedying a long-standing breach, the risk of challenge is real. Take legal advice before serving a Section 8 notice in circumstances where deposit compliance was recently remedied after a significant period of non-compliance.
The Mistakes Landlords Keep Making
The scheme sends a confirmation email when protection is registered. Many landlords forward this to the tenant and consider the obligation met. It is not. The scheme confirmation email is not the prescribed information. The prescribed information is a specific document containing the nine elements listed above. It must be served separately. Both the DPS, MyDeposits, and TDS provide downloadable prescribed information forms that should be completed and served alongside the tenancy agreement.
The 30-day clock runs from the date the deposit is received, not from the tenancy start date. Where a deposit is paid several days before the tenancy starts (common in pre-agreed lettings), the deadline is 30 days from receipt, which may fall before the tenancy start date plus 30 days. Landlords who calculate the deadline from the tenancy start date rather than the payment receipt date frequently miss it.
A change of landlord (such as after a property sale where the buyer takes over the tenancy), a change of the deposit protection scheme, or the addition of a new tenant to the agreement may require the prescribed information to be re-served. Landlords who buy a property with an existing tenancy and do not check whether the deposit is validly protected and whether prescribed information needs to be re-served on the new landlord's information may inherit a compliance gap they do not know about.
Since the Tenant Fees Act 2019, deposits are capped at five weeks' rent for most tenancies. A landlord who collected a six-week deposit before the cap came in and has never adjusted it is holding an unlawfully high deposit. The excess must be returned to the tenant. This is a separate obligation from the protection requirement, but both must be in order before a Section 8 notice can be validly served.
Landlords who use managing agents sometimes assume deposit protection is handled as a matter of course. Some agents do handle it as a standard service. Others do not, or charge separately for it and have not been instructed to do it for a specific property. The legal obligation rests on the landlord, not the agent. Where the agent has failed to protect, the landlord is the one who faces the penalty and the Section 8 bar. Confirm the position directly with the agent and ask for evidence of protection and prescribed information service for every tenancy they manage.
Even landlords who have protected correctly and served prescribed information are sometimes unable to prove it when challenged in possession proceedings. Keep: a copy of the protection certificate from the scheme, a copy of the prescribed information document as served, and evidence that it was delivered to the tenant (email with read receipt, signed acknowledgement, or recorded delivery confirmation). Without this evidence, a tenant who disputes service may succeed in blocking a Section 8 notice even where the landlord genuinely complied.
How to Fix an Unprotected Deposit
If you discover that a deposit in your portfolio is unprotected or that prescribed information was never served, the priority is to remedy the position as quickly as possible. The penalty exposure for the period of non-compliance cannot be avoided, but acting promptly limits the ongoing exposure and removes the Section 8 bar.
| Situation | What to Do |
|---|---|
| Deposit never protected | Register with an approved scheme immediately. Choose custodial (DPS or TDS custodial) if you want to remove the deposit from your account and eliminate any ongoing insured scheme fee risk. Complete the registration in full and keep the confirmation. Then serve the prescribed information. Do not delay: every additional day of non-protection extends the period for which the penalty multiplier can be applied. |
| Deposit protected but prescribed information never served | Download the prescribed information form from the relevant scheme's website. Complete it in full using current landlord and property details. Serve it on the tenant immediately by email (keeping read receipt evidence) and, where possible, by post. Keep a copy of what was sent and when. The 30-day deadline has already been missed, so the breach exists, but serving now removes the ongoing bar on Section 8 notices. |
| Deposit protected in a scheme that is no longer approved or has changed | All three schemes remain approved. If the original scheme used is still operating, the protection is almost certainly still valid. Where the scheme has been replaced, migrated, or the landlord has moved to a new scheme, confirm that the deposit is actively registered in a current scheme. Re-register if necessary and re-serve prescribed information with updated scheme details. |
| Deposit held above the statutory cap | Calculate the maximum permitted deposit (five weeks' rent for tenancies under £50,000 annual rent). Return the excess to the tenant in writing, noting that it is a return of excess deposit pursuant to the Tenant Fees Act 2019. Keep a record of the return. The deposit protection itself must also be checked: if the scheme registration shows the full above-cap amount, update it to reflect the correct amount held. |
For the full picture of landlord compliance prerequisites before a Section 8 notice can be validly served, see Periodic Tenancies After the Renters' Rights Act and Section 8 After the Renters' Rights Act. For the rent increase process that also interacts with the periodic tenancy regime, see Rent Increases After the Renters' Rights Act: Section 13.
Frequently Asked Questions
Every landlord taking a deposit for an assured periodic tenancy must register it with one of the three approved schemes (DPS, MyDeposits, or TDS) within 30 days of receipt. The prescribed information document must also be served on the tenant within those same 30 days. Both obligations must be met. Protecting without serving prescribed information is a separate breach with the same penalty exposure.
The tenant can claim a penalty of one to three times the deposit amount in the county court. You cannot serve a valid Section 8 notice on any ground until the deposit is protected and prescribed information is served. Late protection removes the ongoing Section 8 bar but does not eliminate the penalty liability for the period of non-compliance.
A specific document containing nine required elements: scheme details, scheme terms, how the tenant can access the deposit at end of tenancy, dispute process, ADR details, landlord contact details, property address, amount protected and date received, and circumstances for proposed deductions. Each scheme provides a template. Using the scheme's own template is the safest approach. Serving a scheme confirmation email instead of the prescribed information form does not comply.
No. A validly protected deposit with properly served prescribed information continues to cover the tenancy without annual renewal. The conversion of fixed-term tenancies to periodic tenancies on 1 May 2026 did not invalidate existing deposit protection or require re-service. A new 30-day clock only starts if a new deposit is received. However, material changes to tenancy details may require the prescribed information to be updated and re-served.
No. Proposed deductions must either be agreed with the tenant or determined by the scheme's ADR service. The landlord cannot unilaterally deduct without the tenant's consent or an ADR determination. Deduction claims must be supported by evidence: check-in and check-out inventories, photographs, and invoices. Without evidence, deductions are typically rejected by the ADR service. A proper inventory is not a deposit protection obligation but it is the prerequisite for a successful deduction claim.
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