Tenancy deposit protection prescribed information

A landlord or their agent must provide a tenant and any other 'relevant person' with the prescribed information about the authorised scheme protecting their tenancy deposit.[1]

The prescribed information is set out in regulations.[2] The information must be given in the prescribed form or in a form substantially to the same effect.[3]

Information about the deposit and tenancy agreement

The prescribed information must include detail about the tenancy deposit and the related tenancy including:

• amount of the deposit paid

• address of the rented property

• landlord's or initial agents name, address and contact details

• tenant's name or joint tenants' names, address and contact details

• any relevant person's name, address and contact details

Details of the scheme

The landlord or agent must provide the tenant and any relevant person with the following information about the tenancy deposit protection scheme:

• name, address and contact details of the authorised scheme protecting the deposit

• the information leaflet supplied by the scheme administrator, which explains the provisions of the tenancy deposit protection legislation[4]

Information about getting the deposit back

The prescribed information must explain the circumstances under the tenancy agreement where all or part of the deposit might be retained. This includes details of the procedures set out in the protection scheme:

• how the deposit will be repaid at the end of the tenancy

• what to do if either the landlord, agent or tenant is not contactable at the end of the tenancy

• how disputes about the amount of deposit to be returned will be resolved

• facilities available for out-of-court dispute resolution

Signed confirmation from the landlord

A landlord or agent must sign and issue a certificate confirming that the information provided to the tenant and any relevant persons is accurate. A tenant must be given the opportunity to sign it to confirm that, to the best of their knowledge, the information is correct. This certificate is not necessarily a copy of any deposit protection certificate issued by the scheme.

If the landlord is a company, the certificate can be signed by an employee of the landlord. It does not have to be signed by a director of the company.[5]

Each authorised scheme will provide the landlord with a certificate to confirm that the deposit has been successfully protected. Sending a copy of this deposit protection certificate to the tenant and relevant person is not sufficient for the landlord to comply with the statutory notification requirements.[6]

The law does not require service of a copy of the scheme's deposit protection certificate on the tenant and relevant person, but this may be required under the rules of the chosen tenancy deposit scheme. For more information about schemes' rules see The approved schemes.

For joint assured shorthold tenancies, service of the prescribed information to the ‘lead tenant’ (if one has been nominated) or in a single communication addressed to all the joint tenants will arguably by sufficient to comply with the requirements of the tenancy deposit legislation. However, the name and contact details of each joint tenant must be included. The rules of each scheme provide some guidance to landlords and agents, but there is no binding court decision on the point.

Normally, the landlord or their agent must send the prescribed information to the tenant and relevant person within 30 days of receiving the deposit. For information on when different time limits apply, see Time limits for compliance.