When renting a property, you may be asked to pay a tenancy deposit. This is usually after you have viewed the property and decided you’d like to enter into a tenancy agreement.
Under the Tenant Fees Act 2019, the deposit should be capped at 5 weeks’ rent where the annual rent is up to £50,000, or 6 weeks’ rent where the annual rent is £50,000 or more. You’ll be asked to pay the deposit to the letting agent/landlord, and they must protect the deposit with one of the three government-approved tenancy deposit protection schemes in the UK.
The letting agent/landlord has 30 days to protect the deposit and can protect it within two types of scheme – Insured and Custodial. The Custodial scheme requires the agent/landlord to send the deposit to TDS, and the Insured scheme allows them to retain the funds in a ring-fenced client account.
In both schemes, your funds are protected giving you peace of mind for the duration of the tenancy. At the end of tenancy, you will need to reach out to your letting agent/landlord to reach an agreement over repayment of the funds. TDS are available to support and offer a free adjudication service, should you and your landlord fail to reach an agreement.