Landlords usually ask new tenants to pay a tenancy deposit as security to cover things like damage and unpaid rent before a tenancy begins. But how does the tenant know if they’ll get their deposit back? This is where Tenancy Deposit Protection (TDP) comes in.
Tenancy deposit protection legislation is designed to protect the tenant’s deposit and ensure they get it back at the end of their stay, provided they meet the terms of their Tenancy Agreement.
The tenancy deposit protection (TDP) law:
When a deposit is taken from a tenant on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) in England and Wales you will need to do the following within 30 calendar days:
- Protect the deposit with a government authorised scheme such as mydeposits
- Provide the tenant(s) with the Prescribed Information.
Fail to comply with both or either of the steps above and landlords could be fined between one and three times the deposit amount.
How to comply with mydeposits
Protecting a tenant’s deposit with mydeposits, one of the government authorised schemes is simple. All you need to do is:
- Set up a member account by joining and becoming a mydeposits member (this is a one-off process)
- Use your member account to protect each deposit that you take from your tenant within 30 days
- Serve the Prescribed Information to your tenant following the successful protection.
Using mydeposits means that the landlord can hold onto the deposit in their bank account for the duration of the tenancy and the tenant can rest assured that the agreed amount will be returned at the end of their stay providing they meet the terms of the tenancy agreement.
