Deposit protection schemes (DPS)

3 min read

This page provides information about the government approved options for securing a deposit.

If you are a landlord, you are legally required to register your tenant’s deposit with a government approved scheme within 30 days of receiving it. There are currently three approved schemes listed below.

The Deposit Protection Service

The Deposit Protection Service’s website offers more detail on how to register a deposit with them.

The Tenancy Deposit Scheme

The Tenancy Deposit Scheme’s website offers more detail on how to register a deposit with them.

MyDeposits

MyDeposits’ website offers more detail on how to register a deposit with them.

A landlord must protect their tenant’s deposit within 30 days and provide them with particular information including:

• the property address
• amount of deposit protected
• the scheme the deposit is registered with
• your contact details

Gov.uk details what landlords have to tell the tenants.

Your tenant can take you to court and you could pay a fine if you do not do this.

If you are a tenant, you can check if your deposit has been registered. Select the link to the scheme above that your landlord has registered your deposit with and select ‘is my deposit protected?’, then fill in the required information. If your landlord does not provide you with the scheme name, check all three.

End of tenancy

Landlords should return the deposit within 10 days of the end of the tenancy and discuss any deductions – this is the case even if you are evicting a tenant. If you cannot reach an agreement, the deposit protection scheme can help with dispute resolution, or you can choose to go to court.