You must place your tenants' deposit in a tenancy deposit protection (TDP) schemes if you rent out your home on an assured shorthold tenancy that started after 6 April 2007. The schemes in England and Wales are:

• Deposit Protection Service (Custodial and Insured)
• MyDeposits
• Tenancy Deposit Scheme

There are separate tenancy deposit protection schemes in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

These government-backed schemes ensure your tenants will get their deposit back if they:

• meet the terms of your tenancy agreement
• don't damage the property
• pay the rent and bills

You (or your letting agent) must put your tenants' deposit in the scheme within 30 days of getting it.

At the end of the tenancy

The deposit must be returned to your tenants within 10 days of you both agreeing how much they’ll get back.

If you're in a dispute with your tenants, the deposit is protected in the TDP scheme until the issue is settled.

Holding deposits

If you've received a holding deposit from your future tenants (money to ‘hold’ a property before an agreement is signed), you don't have to protect it. Once they become tenants the holding deposit becomes a deposit, and you must protect it.

Deposits made by a third party

You must use a TDP scheme even if the deposit is paid by someone else, like a rent deposit scheme or a tenant’s parents.

Within 30 days of getting their deposit, you must tell your tenants:

• the address of the rented property
• how much deposit they've paid
• how the deposit is protected
• the name and contact details of the tenancy deposit protection (TDP) scheme and its dispute resolution service
• your (or your letting agency's) name and contact details
• the name and contact details of any third party who paid the deposit
• why you would keep some or all of the deposit - eg because your tenants damaged the property and you need to fix it
• how to apply to get the deposit back at the end of the tenancy
• what to do if they can't get hold of you at the end of the tenancy
• what to do if there's a dispute over the amount of deposit to be returned at the end of the tenancy

Your tenants can apply to a county court if you don't use a tenancy deposit protection (TDP) scheme when you have to. They can do this at any time during the tenancy.

If the court finds you haven't protected the deposit, it can order you to either:

• repay it to your tenants
• pay it into a custodial TDP scheme's bank account within 14 days

The court may also order you to repay your tenants up to 3 times their original deposit within 14 days of making the order.

At the end of the tenancy

The court may also decide that your tenants don't have to leave the property when the tenancy ends if you didn’t use a TDP scheme when you should have.

Use your tenancy deposit protection (TDP) scheme’s free dispute resolution service if you disagree with your tenants about how much deposit should be returned.

Contact your TDP scheme for more information on the dispute resolution service. The schemes are:

• Deposit Protection Service
• MyDeposits
• Tenancy Deposit Scheme

Help and advice

You can get more help and advice from:

• your local Citizens Advice Bureau
• a solicitor