Returning a deposit at the end of a tenancy

When your tenant moves out, tell the tenancy deposit scheme you used that the tenancy has ended.

If there were no issues when the tenant moved out, tell the scheme that the deposit should be returned in full.

If you plan to make deductions from the deposit, discuss these with your tenant first to see if they agree or not.

Making deductions

If you decide to make deductions, you must tell the scheme.

The scheme will contact the tenant directly and ask if they agree with any deductions. The tenant will have 30 working days to confirm if they agree or not.

If the tenant does not reply, their share of the deposit will stay in the scheme. You'll get your share.

If you do not contact the scheme

The tenant can contact the scheme and ask for the money to be returned.

The scheme will return the money in full to the tenant with 30 days unless you contact the scheme and ask to make deductions.

If your tenant challenges deposit deductions

All 3 schemes all offer a free dispute resolution service.

An independent adjudicator will:

• look at the dispute, including evidence from you and the tenant
• decide how much of the deposit the tenant should get back

If you cannot prove why you're asking for deductions, the tenant will get their full deposit back.