Tenancy deposits: caps, protection and getting it back
How much a landlord can take, which schemes protect it, and how to check.
Last reviewed 30 September 2026. General information, not legal advice.
Deposit caps
- In England, five weeks’ rent where the annual rent is under £50,000.
- In England, six weeks’ rent where the annual rent is £50,000 or more. Tenancies with rent over £100,000 a year are not assured tenancies, so the Tenant Fees Act caps do not apply to them.
- In England and Wales, a holding deposit may not exceed one week’s rent.
- In England, no rent can be taken before the tenancy agreement is signed. After signing, a landlord can ask for no more than the first month’s rent (or 28 days’ rent if you pay weekly) before the tenancy starts.
- Outside England: in Wales, a holding deposit is limited to one week’s rent, but no legal limit on the size of a security deposit has been set. In Scotland, a deposit cannot be more than two months’ rent.
Protection schemes
In England, a deposit paid for an assured tenancy must be protected in a government-approved scheme within 30 days of your landlord receiving it. Since 1 May 2026 this covers almost all private tenancies, because assured shorthold tenancies became assured periodic tenancies on that date. In Wales, the same 30-day rule applies to deposits paid under occupation contracts, which replaced assured shorthold tenancies on 1 December 2022. England and Wales share three approved schemes: the Deposit Protection Service (DPS), mydeposits and the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS). Within the same 30 days your landlord must give you the prescribed information, which says which scheme holds your deposit. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own schemes.
If your deposit is not protected
In England, if your landlord has not protected your deposit or has not given you the prescribed information, a court generally cannot make a possession order until they have done so (even late) or have returned the deposit; this does not apply to the anti-social behaviour grounds. You can also apply to the county court, which can order the landlord to repay or protect the deposit and to pay you between one and three times its amount.
Checking your deposit
Each scheme has its own deposit checker on its website. This site cannot check a deposit for you. Check with the scheme named in the prescribed information your landlord gave you; if you were not given that information, or are not sure your deposit was protected, check with each of the three schemes.