If you rent in the UK and paid a deposit, that money is not supposed to be sitting in your landlord's account. It has to be in a government-approved scheme, and which scheme — and which type of scheme — changes how you get it back.
Most renters never look into this until something goes wrong. Ten minutes now saves a great deal later.
Why the schemes exist
Before 2007, a landlord held the deposit and decided whether to return it. If they kept it unfairly, the only remedy was court.
The schemes moved the money, or at least the guarantee of it, out of the landlord's sole control, and attached a free adjudication service to it. That is the important part: if your deposit is properly protected, you get access to a dispute service that costs you nothing and does not require a court.
The schemes by nation
England and Wales have three approved schemes:
- Deposit Protection Service (DPS)
- Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS)
- mydeposits
Scotland has its own rules, three approved schemes and no insured option: see tenancy deposit schemes in Scotland. Northern Ireland operates its own approved schemes under separate rules. If you rent in either nation, check the scheme list for that nation rather than assuming the English one applies.
Your landlord chooses which scheme to use. You do not get a say, but you are entitled to be told which one it is.
FAQ
What is the difference between an insured and a custodial deposit scheme?
The difference is who holds your money during the tenancy. In a custodial scheme, your landlord hands the deposit to the scheme, which keeps it until the tenancy ends. In an insured scheme, your landlord keeps the deposit and pays the scheme a fee to protect it. Either way your deposit is protected, and you can use the scheme's free dispute service.
What is an insured deposit scheme?
An insured deposit scheme lets your landlord or letting agent hold the deposit themselves while it is protected. They pay the scheme a fee. If there is a dispute at the end, they must pay the disputed amount to the scheme, and if they don't, the scheme's insurance covers what you are owed.
The detail below is worth understanding, because it changes who is holding your money.
Custodial. The landlord hands the deposit to the scheme, which holds it for the whole tenancy. It is free for the landlord to use. At the end, the money is released according to what both parties agree, or according to an adjudicator's decision.
Insured. The landlord keeps the deposit and pays the scheme a fee to insure it. The money sits in the landlord's account throughout.
From your side, the practical difference appears at the end of the tenancy. Under a custodial scheme, the scheme already has the money and simply releases it. Under an insured scheme, the landlord has to pay the disputed amount over to the scheme once a dispute is raised — and if they do not, the scheme's insurance covers you.
Either way you are protected. But an insured deposit involves one more step where a landlord can drag their feet, so knowing which type you are in tells you what to expect.
How to find out which scheme holds yours
Two routes.
The prescribed information you should have been given within 30 days of paying the deposit names the scheme. If you have it, read it — it also tells you the amount protected and how to apply for its return.
If you do not have it, search the schemes directly. Each lets you check for your own deposit free, using the property postcode, the deposit amount and your surname or the tenancy start date. Search all three in England and Wales, because you cannot assume which one your landlord used.
If nothing comes back from any of them, read what to do if your deposit isn't protected — the position is better than most renters expect.
What the scheme will and will not do
It will hold or guarantee the money, provide a free dispute service, and make a binding decision based on the evidence both sides submit.
It will not inspect the property, chase your landlord on your behalf, give you legal advice, or decide anything that is not about the deposit. Rent arrears beyond the deposit, disrepair, harassment, illegal eviction — none of that is the scheme's business.
And crucially, the adjudicator decides on paperwork alone. No visit, no hearing, no phone call. Two files, one decision. We go through what that means for the evidence you send in what evidence to send in a deposit dispute.
How much can be taken as a deposit
The cap comes from the Tenant Fees Act 2019 and is unchanged by the 2026 reforms:
- Five weeks' rent where the annual rent is under £50,000
- Six weeks' rent where the annual rent is £50,000 or more
Note that it is weeks of rent, not months. A common error — by landlords and tenants alike — is to treat "one month plus one month" as within the cap. Five weeks is roughly 1.15 months, so a deposit of two months' rent is over the limit.
If you paid more than the cap, the excess is a prohibited payment and you can ask for it back.
A holding deposit is a separate thing, capped at one week's rent, and is meant to be put towards the deposit or rent if the tenancy goes ahead.
The 30-day rule
Your landlord has 30 calendar days from receiving the deposit to do two things: protect it in an approved scheme, and serve you the prescribed information.
Both. A landlord who protected the money promptly but never sent the prescribed information has still breached the rules, and the consequence is the same — a court can order them to pay you between one and three times the deposit. You have six years to bring that claim.
What changed in 2026
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 came into force on 1 May 2026. Section 21 notices and assured shorthold tenancies were abolished; most private tenancies in England became periodic assured tenancies.
None of the deposit rules above changed. Same 30 days, same prescribed information, same cap, same penalty range.
What did change is how much the protection duty bites. It used to be linked mainly to section 21 — an unprotected deposit blocked that one eviction route. With section 21 gone, the requirement now attaches much more broadly: a landlord who has not protected the deposit and served the prescribed information is blocked from obtaining a possession order on most grounds.
So if you are reading guidance written before May 2026 — and most of what ranks on this topic was — treat anything it says about section 21 as out of date, and anything it says about the deposit rules themselves as still current.
What to do now, while nothing is wrong
- Find out which scheme holds your deposit, and whether it is custodial or insured
- Save the prescribed information somewhere you will find it in two years
- Check the deposit against the five- or six-week cap
- Keep your move-in evidence with it, because the scheme protects the money and your own record answers the questions about condition
Our move-in inventory checklist covers that last point in practical detail.
The scheme holds your money. Your own record of the property's condition is up to you: start with our move-in checklist.
Where RentSeal fits
RentSeal keeps the record side of this in one place for one tenancy: the photos, the notes, the tenancy agreement, the prescribed information, organised and dated. You can see how it works before creating anything.
The scheme looks after the money. Nobody looks after your evidence except you.
This guide explains the schemes in general terms and is not legal advice. For your own situation, speak to Citizens Advice, Shelter or a housing solicitor.