Every security deposit paid by a private tenant in England must be registered with one of three government-approved schemes. These schemes exist to make sure your money is safe during the tenancy and that there's a fair, free process for resolving disagreements about deposit deductions when you move out.
The three schemes are:
Your landlord chooses which one to use, and you can't insist on a particular scheme. Each scheme offers a free alternative dispute resolution service that resolves deposit disputes without the cost or complexity of going to court.
There are two types of protection offered by these schemes: custodial and insured. In a custodial scheme, the scheme holds your deposit money directly for the duration of the tenancy (the DPS offers this for free), whereas in an insured scheme, the landlord keeps the money but pays a fee to the scheme, which insures it. Both types give you the same rights and access to free adjudication.
Your landlord must protect your deposit within 30 days of receiving it and give you prescribed information confirming which scheme holds it. If they fail to do either, you can claim compensation of one to three times the deposit value through the county court. Under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, an unprotected deposit also blocks the landlord from using most Section 8 grounds for eviction.
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