10 minute read
Key points
- You must protect the deposit and serve the prescribed information within 30 days of receiving it.
- The 30 days start when the money arrives, not when the tenancy starts.
- A scheme email does not count: you or your agent must serve the information, including on a guarantor who paid.
- The deposit cap is five weeks' rent under £50,000 a year and six weeks at £50,000 or more.
- A missed deadline can mean a penalty of one to three times the deposit and a blocked possession claim.
- Keep signed reports, dated photos and invoices, because you must prove every deduction.
This guide is for Tameside landlords letting houses, flats or house share rooms in Ashton-under-Lyne, Stalybridge, Hyde and the nearby towns. The deposit rules are national, so they apply the same in Tameside as anywhere in England, and the deadline does not move because you use a letting agent.
What is tenancy deposit protection and what must you do?
Tenancy deposit protection means a deposit you take from a tenant must be protected in an authorised scheme. It applies to nearly every private let in England now, because since 1 May 2026 almost every let to an individual is an assured periodic tenancy. Each room in a house share let separately is its own tenancy, so each room has its own deposit.
As a deposit protection landlord you have two jobs, and both have the same deadline:
- Protect it. Protect the deposit in an authorised scheme within 30 days of receiving it.
- Serve the prescribed information. Within the same 30 days, give the tenant, and anyone who paid on their behalf, the legally required details of how the deposit is held.
This guide is a summary, not legal advice, and is correct as of 28 October 2026. The rules come from section 213 of the Housing Act 2004.
How long do you have to protect a deposit? A day by day example
The 30 days run from the day you receive the deposit. They do not run from the day the tenancy starts. If a tenant pays a deposit in October for a December move in, the clock has been running since October.
Here is a worked example for a deposit received on Monday 2 November 2026. We count 30 days from the day after receipt, which gives Wednesday 2 December 2026. Treat the day before as your real deadline and leave yourself room.
| Day | Date | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Mon 2 November 2026 | Deposit arrives. Write down the date and the amount. |
| 1 | Tue 3 November | Register the deposit with your scheme and save the reference. |
| 3 | Thu 5 November | Serve the prescribed information on the tenant and on anyone who paid for them. |
| 7 | Mon 9 November | Check you hold proof of protection and proof of service, with dates. |
| 30 | Wed 2 December | Final deadline. Both steps must be done before this. |
What if the deposit is paid before the tenancy starts?
The deadline still runs from receipt. Take the money, protect it and serve the information straight away, even if the keys are weeks away.
What is the prescribed information and who is a relevant person?
The prescribed information is a set of details about how the deposit is protected. Its content is fixed by the Housing (Tenancy Deposits) (Prescribed Information) Order 2007. It covers which scheme holds the deposit, how the tenant gets it back at the end, and what happens if you disagree. The schemes provide a pre-populated form for each deposit, which is the easiest way to be sure nothing is missing.
A relevant person is anyone who paid all or part of the deposit on the tenant's behalf. That is often a parent or a guarantor. They must receive the information as well as the tenant.
Serving it properly
- You serve it. The landlord or agent must serve the information. An email from the scheme on its own does not count.
- Joint tenants. Give each tenant a copy.
- Keep proof. Note who received it, how and on what date, and keep a copy.
How much deposit can you take? The deposit cap worked out
The deposit cap comes from the Tenant Fees Act 2019. It is set by the annual rent, not the monthly figure.
Worked example: five week cap
Assume the rent is £900 a month. The annual rent is 900 x 12 = £10,800, which is under £50,000. One week's rent is 10,800 / 52 = £207.69. Five weeks is 5 x 207.69 = £1,038.46. That is the most you can take.
Worked example: six week cap
Assume the rent is £4,200 a month. The annual rent is 4,200 x 12 = £50,400, so the six week rule applies. One week is 50,400 / 52 = £969.23, and six weeks is £5,815.38.
Many Tameside landlords take less than the cap. At North Point we take two weeks' rent for a room and five weeks' rent for a home. For a room at £520 a month, one week is 520 x 12 / 52 = £120, so the deposit is £240. A holding deposit is a separate payment with its own limit, covered in our tenant fees guide.
What happens if you do not protect the deposit?
- A penalty. A court must order you to pay the tenant between one and three times the deposit. The tenant can claim during the tenancy or after it.
- A possession problem. You cannot get a possession order, except on Grounds 7A and 14, unless the deposit has been protected and the information served, or the deposit has been returned, or a penalty claim has been decided or settled.
Take the £1,038.46 deposit from the example above. A penalty of one to three times would be between £1,038.46 and £3,115.38, and the tenant still gets the deposit itself back.
If you have missed the 30 days, protect the deposit and serve the information now, then take advice. A tenant can still claim for the delay. Any claim that a deposit was not protected, or that the information was not served, is for a solicitor to handle, not something to settle by email. Our rent arrears and possession guide explains why this matters if you ever need to end a tenancy.
How does an end of tenancy deposit claim work?
Once the tenant leaves, you need to decide quickly what, if anything, to deduct. With a custodial scheme such as the Deposit Protection Service (DPS), the process runs like this.
- Inspect. Compare the property with the check in report once the keys are back.
- Propose deductions. Tell the tenant what you want to deduct and why, with evidence.
- Agree. If you and the tenant agree, the DPS pays out within two business days.
- Dispute. If you disagree, the scheme's free adjudication service decides. You have 14 calendar days to upload your evidence once it is requested.
Put arrears in the first claim
If the tenant owes rent, include it in the first claim. Additions after the payout will fail. Check the outcome before you send the tenant any further invoice.
What evidence do you need? Fair wear and tear and betterment
You must prove each deduction. The adjudicator looks at what you can show, not what you believe happened.
- A signed tenancy agreement.
- Signed check in and check out reports. Matching rooms and wording make comparison easy.
- Dated photos. Take them at the start and the end.
- Invoices or quotes. The loss must be real and costed.
- A rent statement if arrears are part of the claim.
- Correspondence with the tenant about the issue.
Fair wear and tear is ordinary ageing from normal use, and you cannot charge for it. Betterment means the tenant should not pay for an improvement. If you replace something old with something new, you can only claim the part of the cost that matches the tenant's damage. The scheme's formula is cost x (1 - age / expected life).
Example, using assumptions: a new carpet costs £600. The old carpet was 4 years old and we assume a 10 year life. The claim is 600 x (1 - 4/10) = 600 x 0.6 = £360.
Common deposit protection mistakes
- Relying on the scheme email. It is not the prescribed information.
- Forgetting the guarantor. A parent or guarantor who paid must be served too.
- Counting from the start date. The 30 days start at receipt.
- Taking too much. A deposit over the cap is a prohibited payment under the Tenant Fees Act. Pet deposits and pet fees are banned.
- No dated records. Without them you cannot show you met the deadline.
- Claiming late for arrears. Put everything in the first claim.
- One deposit for a whole HMO. Each room let separately has its own tenancy and its own deposit.
Deposit terms in plain English
- Authorised scheme. A government approved deposit scheme. A custodial scheme such as the DPS holds the money itself.
- Prescribed information. The legally required details of how the deposit is protected.
- Relevant person. Someone other than the tenant who paid part or all of the deposit.
How North Point helps Tameside landlords with deposits
As a letting agent in Ashton-under-Lyne, we register deposits with the Deposit Protection Service and keep the tenancy paperwork together, because a claim stands or falls on that paperwork. Inventory and check in are included in our services, which gives you the evidence a claim depends on.
- Full management. 12% of rent collected, no VAT and no set up fee. See our landlord services and fees, or try the fee calculator.
- Let only. We find and check the tenant for 75% of the first month's rent, with a minimum of £495.
- House shares. HMO management for Tameside landlords, with every room's deposit handled separately.
Whether you use a letting agent or manage yourself, the 30 day deadline applies to the deposit. We cannot decide a disputed deposit claim. The scheme's adjudicator does that, and any court question goes to a solicitor. For the local picture, see our pages for Ashton-under-Lyne and Stalybridge.
