Deposit prescribed information

Paid a deposit but never received the paperwork explaining where it is held? That missing paperwork — the "prescribed information" — can be worth up to three times your deposit in compensation.

What exactly counts as prescribed information?

It is a set list of details fixed by law, including the amount of the deposit, the address of the property, the name and contact details of the tenancy deposit scheme, the landlord's or agent's contact details, how to apply to release the deposit at the end of the tenancy, and how the scheme's dispute resolution service works.

Does the landlord have to protect the deposit and serve prescribed information separately?

They are two separate legal duties that both apply within the same 30-day window. A landlord can technically protect the deposit in a scheme but still fail to serve the prescribed information — or vice versa — and either failure on its own is enough to trigger a claim.

What can I do if I never received the prescribed information?

You can bring a claim in the county court under section 214 of the Housing Act 2004, asking the court to order the landlord to pay a penalty and, if the deposit was never protected at all, to protect it or return it.

How much compensation can I get?

The court can order a penalty of between one and three times the deposit amount, on top of requiring the deposit itself to be protected or returned. The exact multiple is at the court's discretion, based on factors such as how late the landlord was and whether the failure appears deliberate or accidental.

Does the 30-day deadline apply to every tenancy deposit?

It applies to deposits taken under assured shorthold tenancies and most other tenancies covered by the deposit protection scheme rules. It does not apply to holding deposits, which are governed separately under the Tenant Fees Act 2019.

Can I still bring a claim if my tenancy has already ended?

Generally yes, provided you bring the claim within the standard six-year limitation period for this type of statutory claim, though it becomes harder to gather evidence the longer you wait — start by checking your records for when the deposit was paid and whether you ever received the prescribed information.

Does a letting agent handling the deposit change who is liable?

Not from the tenant's perspective — the landlord remains ultimately responsible for compliance even where an agent handles protection and the prescribed information in practice, so a claim under section 214 is normally brought against the landlord.

What prescribed information must include

The Housing (Tenancy Deposits) (Prescribed Information) Order 2007 sets out exactly what a landlord must tell a tenant: the amount of the deposit and the address of the rented property, the name, address and contact details of the authorised scheme protecting it, the landlord's or letting agent's own contact details, circumstances in which some or all of the deposit may be retained, and how the tenant can apply to have the deposit released, or use the scheme's free dispute resolution service if there is a disagreement at the end of the tenancy.

This is separate from — and just as important as — actually protecting the money in one of the government-authorised schemes.

Both duties run on the same clock: a landlord must protect the deposit in an authorised scheme, and serve the prescribed information on the tenant, within

of receiving the deposit. Missing either deadline — protecting late, or protecting on time but never sending the prescribed information — is enough on its own to put the landlord in breach.

What happens if a landlord does not comply

A tenant can bring a claim in the county court. If the court finds the landlord failed to protect the deposit, serve the prescribed information, or both, it must order a penalty of

between one and three times

the deposit amount, in addition to ordering the deposit itself to be protected or returned. The exact multiplier is for the court to decide, and tends to reflect how late or how complete the failure was, and whether it looks like an oversight or a pattern.

How this relates to an unprotected deposit

Protecting the deposit and serving prescribed information are related duties, but a landlord can fail at either one independently. A landlord who protects the deposit on time but never sends the prescribed information is still in breach, just as one who sends a prescribed information letter but never actually places the money in an authorised scheme is in breach too.

Either failure, on its own, is enough to found a claim under section 214 — tenants do not need to show both duties were missed, and a landlord cannot escape a claim simply by pointing to having got one half of the process right.

A tenant pays a £1,200 deposit on 1 June. The landlord protects the money in an authorised scheme on day 20, within the 30-day window, but never sends the tenant the prescribed information setting out which scheme holds it or how to resolve a dispute. Because serving the prescribed information is a separate, equally mandatory duty, the tenant can bring a claim under section 214 even though the deposit itself was protected on time. The court orders the landlord to pay a penalty of one and a half times the deposit — £1,800 — on top of the deposit remaining protected.

Tenant Fees Act 2019

First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber)

Housing Act 2004, s.213

Housing Act 2004, s.214

Deposit Prescribed Information — Renters' Rights Glossary

What prescribed information is, the 30-day deadline to serve it, and the one-to-three-times-deposit penalty for landlords who miss it.