Tenancy deposit protection
Most deposits should be protected within 30 days of you paying one.
This applies to assured and assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs).
Lodger deposits do not need to be protected.
If your landlord does not protect your deposit
Your landlord must register your deposit with a tenancy deposit protection scheme and give you written information about this.
If they do not do these things, you could:
be protected from eviction
get compensation
Protection from eviction
Eviction laws changed on 1 May 2026. Your private landlord cannot give you a section 21 notice from this date.
If you got a section 21 before this date, it might not be valid in any of these situations:
your deposit was not protected with a scheme
it was protected more than 30 days after your last contract started
you did not get written information about the scheme before you got the section 21
More on section 21 eviction.
Eviction with a section 8 notice
In some cases, the court cannot order eviction if your landlord has not:
protected your deposit
given you written information
But there are other situations where an eviction can go ahead.
More on section 8 eviction.
Getting compensation
You could get compensation from your landlord or agent if they:
did not protect your deposit with a scheme within 30 days
did not give you written information about the scheme within 30 days
You could get:
your deposit back
up to 3 times your deposit amount in compensation
You might need to go to court to get compensation.
Find out how to make a tenancy deposit compensation claim.
Compensation without going to court
Most landlords or agents do not want to go to court.
Your landlord might agree to pay you compensation if you agree not go to go to court.
This is called a settlement.
Make sure your landlord puts their settlement offer in writing.
If you have rent arrears
You could ask your landlord to write off rent arrears in exchange for not going to court for compensation.
Example: missed rent payments and deposit protection
Chris has not been able to pay his full rent. He owes his landlord £500.
When Chris moved in, he paid his landlord a deposit of £1000.
Chris finds out that his landlord did not protect his tenancy deposit.
If Chris claimed compensation through court his landlord might have to pay up £3000. This is 3 times the deposit.
Chris tells his landlord that he will not go to court to get compensation if his landlord writes off the rent arrears.
His landlord agrees to this in writing. Chris does not have pay back his rent arrears.
Letter templates to help you
You could also get the landlord to deal with other problems in your tenancy if you agree not to go to court to get compensation.
Use our tool to:
Get a template to help you write to your landlord or agent
Check your tenancy rights
Last updated: 1 May 2026
