Tenancy Deposit Compliance for Landlords (England)

What you'll learn

• Tell a tenancy deposit apart from a holding deposit, rent in advance, and payments the Tenant Fees Act bans
• Protect a deposit and serve the prescribed information within 30 days, on everyone who must receive it
• Work out your penalty exposure if a deposit was missed
• Check deposit compliance before serving any possession notice
• Handle end-of-tenancy deductions with the evidence adjudicators look for
• Keep a deposit evidence file you can produce when asked

1. 01

   The 1–3× deposit mistake

   The three ways a missed deposit costs you: a penalty claim, a blocked possession claim, and weaker deductions.

2. 02

   What counts as a deposit

   Holding deposits, tenancy deposits, rent in advance and the payments the Tenant Fees Act bans.

   Myth check "I can take a bigger deposit for pets."

3. 03

   The 30-day rule

   Both duties inside thirty days, when the clock starts, and choosing a scheme.

   Myth check "You have 14 days to protect it."

4. 04

   Prescribed information

   What to serve, on whom, and how to prove you served it.

   Myth check "The scheme sends them everything."

5. 05

   The penalty maths

   How courts set the 1–3× multiplier, and how claims stack across renewals.

   Myth check "Three times is only for fraud."

6. 06

   The possession trap

   Why deposit compliance now comes before any Section 8 notice, and the routes to fix it.

   Myth check "Non-protection doesn't affect Section 8."

7. 07

   Deductions and disputes

   Building end-of-tenancy deductions on the evidence adjudicators accept.

   Myth check "My listing photos are enough."

8. 08

   Your deposit evidence file

   What to keep, for how long, and how to find it when you need it.

Questions