Getting your tenancy deposit back when you move

Most advice about getting your deposit back is about evidence — photos, the inventory, what counts as fair wear and tear. Our end-of-tenancy checklist covers that. This page covers the part that trips people up once the evidence side is settled: who is actually holding your money, and what that means for how fast you see it again.

Find out who's holding it before you ask for it back

In England and Wales your landlord must have given you written "prescribed information" within 30 days of taking the deposit, naming the scheme it's protected with. If you've still got it, that answers the question. If you haven't, you'll need to search — each scheme (the Deposit Protection Service, mydeposits, and the Tenancy Deposit Scheme) runs its own lookup by postcode, surname, tenancy start date and deposit amount, and there's no single gov.uk tool that searches all three at once.

England and Wales: two scheme types, two different processes

This is the distinction the r/HousingUK thread that prompted this page was stuck on: the Deposit Protection Service itself offers both a free custodial scheme and a paid insured one, and a landlord picks one or the other. They work differently enough that it's worth knowing which applies to you before you ask for your money back.

If there's a dispute

You don't have to accept a deduction you think is wrong just to get the undisputed part released faster. Ask for itemised evidence — receipts, quotes, and the relevant page of the check-in inventory — and if you still disagree, use the scheme's own dispute resolution service. It's free, but both sides have to agree to use it, and you need to raise it within three months of moving out. Under both scheme types the disputed amount is held by the scheme until it's settled, by the dispute service or, failing that, by a court.

Scotland: a different three schemes, and the clock works differently

Scotland runs its own three approved schemes — SafeDeposits Scotland, My Deposits Scotland, and Letting Protection Service Scotland — not the England and Wales ones, and a landlord has 30 working days from the start of the tenancy to lodge the deposit with one of them.

• Your landlord tells the scheme the tenancy has ended. If there are no deductions proposed, the deposit is returned in full.
• If deductions are proposed, the scheme contacts you directly, and you have 30 working days to say whether you agree.
• If you don't respond in that window, your landlord's proposed share can be released without your sign-off — so don't let the scheme's message sit unread.
• If you and your landlord can't agree, an independent adjudicator appointed by the scheme decides the split.

Northern Ireland: fast once you agree, unregistered isn't allowed at all

Northern Ireland has run mandatory deposit protection since April 2013, through schemes including TDS Northern Ireland, and a deposit there is capped at one month's rent. If your deposit is in a custodial scheme (the scheme holds the money), either side can start the repayment process once the tenancy ends. The scheme invites the other party to respond within 30 working days; if both agree, it pays out within a further 5 working days. If the landlord simply doesn't respond to a tenant's request within that 30-working-day window, the scheme pays the tenant directly within 5 working days of the deadline passing. Disagree, and it goes to the scheme's free dispute resolution instead, same as everywhere else. In an insured scheme your landlord holds the money and repays you directly.

The evidence that decides whether there's anything to deduct in the first place — photos, meter readings, the check-in inventory — is covered in the end of tenancy checklist. This page is about what happens once that's settled and you're waiting on the money.