Deposit deadline and cap calculator

Two duties run from the day the money arrives — protect it, and serve the prescribed information — and both share the same 30 days. Enter the date and the rent to see where you stand and the most you can lawfully hold. Nothing you type leaves your browser.

The day the money reached you or the landlord — not the tenancy start.

£

Used to work out the deposit cap.

£

Enter it to check the amount against the cap.

Enter the date the deposit was received, the rent, or both.

Tracking deposits across a portfolio? Add your properties to Proplio and the deadlines chase themselves.

The rules behind the dates

Thirty days to protect it
The deposit must be paid into a government-approved scheme within 30 days of being received. The clock starts the day the money arrives, not the day the tenancy begins.
Housing Act 2004, s. 213(3)
Thirty days to serve the prescribed information
The same 30 days apply to giving the tenant — and anyone who paid the deposit on their behalf — the prescribed information about where it is held. A protected deposit with no prescribed information is still a breach.
Housing Act 2004, s. 213(6)
One to three times the deposit
Miss either duty and the court may order the landlord to pay the tenant between one and three times the deposit. Doing it late does not remove the liability, and most possession routes stay blocked until the deposit is protected or returned.
Housing Act 2004, s. 214
Five weeks, or six above £50,000
The deposit itself is capped at five weeks' rent where the annual rent is under £50,000, and six weeks' where it is £50,000 or more. A week's rent is the annual rent divided by 52, whatever the payment frequency. Anything above the cap is a prohibited payment and must be repaid.
Tenant Fees Act 2019, Sch. 1 para. 2

Common questions

How long do I have to protect a tenancy deposit?
Thirty days from the day the money is received, not from the day the tenancy starts. They are calendar days, including weekends and bank holidays, and the courts have no discretion to extend the deadline.
When is the prescribed information due?
Within the same 30 days. It goes to the tenant and to anyone who paid the deposit on their behalf, such as a guarantor or a parent. A deposit that was protected in time but whose prescribed information was served late is still a breach.
When does the 30 days start for a holding deposit?
From the date the holding deposit converts into a tenancy deposit, which is usually the day the tenancy starts. Money that has been sitting in a client account for weeks is a common way to arrive at the tenancy start with the clock already running.
What is the maximum tenancy deposit I can take?
Five weeks' rent where the annual rent is under £50,000, and six weeks' where it is £50,000 or more. A week's rent is the annual rent divided by 52, whatever the payment frequency — so a monthly rent is multiplied by 12 and divided by 52, not simply divided by four.
What happens if the deposit is protected late?
The court may order the landlord to pay the tenant between one and three times the deposit. Protecting it late does not cure the breach or remove the liability, and most possession routes stay blocked until the deposit is protected or returned in full.
What if I have taken more than the cap?
Anything above the cap is a prohibited payment under the Tenant Fees Act 2019 and must be repaid. The excess does not become lawful by being held in a deposit scheme.

Across a portfolio the risk is not the arithmetic, it is the thirty windows open at once — Proplio keeps the dates for every property in one place.

Sources

Covers England. General information, not legal advice. Related reading: deposit protection deadlines and prescribed information.