Holding deposit refund: when you get your money back

How much can be taken as a holding deposit?

One week’s rent, and no more. Anything above that is a prohibited payment under the Tenant Fees Act 2019, and a landlord or agent asking for two weeks to “secure” a property is asking for something they are not allowed to charge.

Work out one week’s rent for the property — it is the annual rent divided by 52, not the monthly rent divided by four.

What is the deadline for agreement?

The fifteenth day, counting from the day the landlord or agent received your holding deposit, unless you have both agreed a different date in writing. It is the date by which the tenancy has to be entered into. If that day comes and goes without a tenancy, the money has to come back to you.

When can they keep it?

Only in four situations: you gave false or misleading information that affects whether you are suitable as a tenant, you failed a right to rent check, you withdrew, or you failed to take reasonable steps to enter into the tenancy while the landlord was taking reasonable steps too. Nothing else counts, however the agent describes it.

• Changing your mind counts as withdrawing, so it is the one reason most likely to apply to you.
• A referencing result that is simply not as strong as the landlord hoped is not the same as misleading information.
• A right to rent failure is about the check itself, not about the paperwork being slow. How to prove your right to rent.

“The landlord changed their mind about you” is not on the list. If they pull out, the money is yours.

Do they have to tell me why they are keeping it?

Yes, in writing, within 7 days. If they do not give you that written reason inside the 7 days, they have to repay the deposit regardless of what happened. The written reason is worth asking for even when you expect to disagree with it, because it fixes what they are claiming.

What if the rent or the terms changed after I paid?

Keep everything. If the rent, the deposit or the terms you were offered moved after you paid to reserve the property, the question of who failed to proceed becomes one of evidence. Save the original advert, the messages, and any draft agreement, because they show what you were ready to agree to.

• Screenshot the advert as it appeared when you paid, with the rent and the terms on it.
• Keep every message and email with the agent, in order.
• Keep the receipt or bank record of the payment, with the date.
• Keep any draft tenancy agreement you were sent.

Is this the same as my tenancy deposit?

No. A holding deposit reserves the property before the tenancy exists and is capped at one week’s rent. A tenancy deposit is security during the tenancy, is capped separately, and has to be protected in a government-approved scheme. Different money, different rules.

Check whether your tenancy deposit is protected once the tenancy has started.

How do I ask for it back?

Put it in writing, keep it factual, and give a date. Set out the property address, the amount and the date you paid it, why you say it has to be repaid, and a reasonable deadline. If they say they are keeping it, ask which of the four statutory reasons they are relying on.

If that does not work, escalate rather than let it go:

• The agent’s redress scheme, which every letting agent in England must belong to, and which is free to complain to.
• Your council’s trading standards team, which enforces the Tenant Fees Act and can fine.
• Citizens Advice, for what to do next and whether a small claim is worth it.