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Deposit Protection

From 1 April 2013 your landlord or letting agent must comply with deposit protection legislation. If you pay your landlord or letting agent a deposit on a private tenancy agreement then they must protect it with a government licenced scheme within 28 days. Key information about the deposit protection must be provided within 28 days.

Your landlord or agent has a choice of how to protect the deposit. Find out more about what happens when it’s protected in a custodial or insurance scheme.

How Insurance based deposit protection works:


Landlords and letting agents can join a scheme and pay a deposit protection fee to protect your deposit. This fee enables them to hold your deposit for the duration of your stay, and then return the agreed amount to you when you move out.
If you are unhappy with the amount of the deposit offered to you by your landlord or agent at the end of your stay then you can raise a formal dispute with TDS Northern Ireland, who offer a free and impartial dispute resolution service to resolve the dispute.

How Custodial based deposit protection works:


Landlords and letting agents can join a custodial scheme and lodge the deposit to safeguard. That means they hold your deposit in a secure bank account for the duration of the tenancy. Both you and your landlord or agent must authorise its return by using your unique deposit release codes.
If you are unhappy with the amount of the deposit offered to you by your landlord or agent at the end of your stay then you can raise a formal dispute with TDS Northern Ireland, who offer a free and impartial dispute resolution service to resolve the dispute.