Private tenants

You may have to pay a tenancy deposit before you move in to private rented property.

When you pay a deposit, your landlord or letting agent must protect it through a government-backed tenancy deposit protection scheme.

Your landlord or letting agent must put your deposit in the scheme within 30 days of getting it.

You can use the Shelter: tenancy deposit protection rules to find out:

• whether your landlord has to protect your tenancy deposit
• what happens if your tenancy deposit is not protected
• how to get your deposit back