Rent, deposits and fees
How deposit protection works
Your deposit has to be in a government-approved scheme within 30 days, and you have to be told.
A landlord taking a deposit on an assured tenancy in England must protect it in one of the government-approved schemes within 30 days of receiving it, and give the tenant the prescribed information in the same period.
Protecting it is only half. The prescribed information — which scheme, the reference, how to get the deposit back and how to dispute a deduction — has to reach the tenant too.
A landlord who does neither can be ordered to pay the tenant between one and three times the deposit, and cannot serve a valid possession notice until the deposit is returned or protected.
At the end of the tenancy, the landlord proposes any deductions. If you disagree, every scheme has a free adjudication service. Adjudicators decide on evidence, which is why a signed inventory from the start of the tenancy matters so much.
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General information about renting in England, not legal advice.