What is the most a landlord can take as a deposit?
The Tenant Fees Act 2019 caps deposits by the week, not the month. Enter your rent and see the legal maximum, the holding deposit limit, and the cash you actually need to hand over on signing day. If you are being asked for more, that is not a negotiation, it is a breach.
The cap applies to assured shorthold tenancies in England. Scotland and Wales have their own rules, and both also cap deposits, at different levels.
Maximum tenancy deposit
£2,076.92
That is 5 weeks of rent. The law caps deposits at 5 weeks where annual rent is under £50,000 and 6 weeks at £50,000 or more. Your annual rent is £21,600, so the 5 week cap applies.
The move-in maths
Before you hand it over
- Ask which protection scheme will hold the deposit. The landlord has 30 days to protect it and tell you where it is.
- Get the check-in inventory, go through it on day one, and photograph anything it misses. That paperwork decides disputes later.
- Pay by bank transfer and keep the confirmation. Cash with no receipt is how deposit arguments start.
Keep this for signing day
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Common questions
Where does my deposit have to be held?
For an assured shorthold tenancy in England, the landlord must protect your deposit in one of three government-approved schemes: the Deposit Protection Service (DPS), MyDeposits or the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS). They have 30 days from receiving the money to protect it and to serve you the prescribed information saying where it is held. Miss either step and a court can order the landlord to pay you compensation of one to three times the deposit.
What can legally be deducted from my deposit?
Unpaid rent, damage beyond fair wear and tear, missing items that were on the inventory, and cleaning needed to return the property to the condition recorded at check-in. Fair wear and tear itself, worn carpets in a long tenancy, faded paint, is not deductible, and a landlord cannot charge you to improve the property beyond how you found it. The check-in inventory and dated photos are what disputes turn on, so keep your own copies.
How long does getting my deposit back take?
Once you and the landlord agree the amount, the scheme or landlord must return it within 10 days of that agreement. The slow part is reaching agreement: landlords typically propose deductions after check-out, and if you dispute them, each scheme runs a free alternative dispute resolution service where an adjudicator decides based on the evidence. The landlord has to prove the deduction is justified, not the other way round.
Are zero-deposit or deposit-replacement schemes a good deal?
Usually not. You pay a non-refundable fee, often presented as around a week of rent, instead of a refundable five-week deposit. The fee never comes back, and you remain fully liable for damage and unpaid rent at the end of the tenancy, which the scheme will pursue you for. A traditional deposit is your own money sitting protected in a scheme; a replacement product is a fee for keeping it in your pocket now. If cash flow allows, the traditional deposit is nearly always better value.
What if my landlord took more than the legal cap?
Anything above the cap is a prohibited payment under the Tenant Fees Act 2019. You can ask for the excess back in writing, complain to your local council's Trading Standards team, which can fine the landlord or agent, and recover the money through the First-tier Tribunal. A landlord holding a prohibited payment also cannot serve a valid Section 21 notice until it is repaid, though Section 21 itself is being abolished under the Renters' Rights Act, so check the current position on gov.uk.