Holding deposit before a viewing: should you pay?

The holding deposit rules

• No more than one week’s rent. Anything above that is a banned payment.
• Only one holding deposit for the same home at a time.
• The tenancy should be signed within 15 days of the landlord or agent receiving it, unless you both agree a different date in writing.
• If you sign, it goes towards your first rent or tenancy deposit if you agree, or is repaid within 7 days.
• If the landlord decides not to go ahead, or the deadline passes without a tenancy, it must be repaid within 7 days.

It can only be kept if:

• you gave false or misleading information that the landlord was entitled to take into account,
• you failed a right to rent check, and the landlord didn’t know and couldn’t reasonably have known that before taking the deposit,
• you told them you are pulling out before the deadline, or
• you didn’t take all reasonable steps to sign by the deadline, while the landlord and agent did.

If they keep it, they must tell you why in writing within 7 days. If they don’t, they must repay it. If they asked you for a banned fee, they can’t keep it because you pulled out or didn’t take reasonable steps. More on the fees a landlord or agent can and can’t charge.

Signs it’s a scam

• You’re asked to pay before you’ve seen the home, “because lots of people are interested”.
• The landlord is abroad or can’t meet you, and offers to post the keys once you’ve paid.
• The payment is a bank transfer to a personal account, a money transfer service, gift cards or cryptocurrency.
• The rent is well below similar homes nearby.
• You’re pushed to decide today, or asked to beat another offer.
• The person can’t or won’t show that the home is theirs to let.

Being asked to offer more than the advertised rent isn’t always a scam, but it is banned: the rental bidding ban. Our guide to spotting a rental scam covers the checks to make before you pay.

Before you pay a holding deposit

• View the home in person, or have someone you trust view it for you.
• Check the landlord or agent exists, using contact details you found yourself.
• Check who owns the home, and that the owner is the landlord or clearly linked to them.
• Check the amount is no more than one week’s rent.
• Get the terms in writing: the amount, the address, and the deadline for signing.
• Pay by a traceable method to an account in the agent’s or landlord’s name, and keep the receipt.

How to check a landlord before renting.

If you’ve paid a scammer

• Tell your bank at once, on the number on its website or the back of your card, or call 159.
• Report it to Report Fraud, which replaced Action Fraud, at reportfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040.
• Report the advert to the website or social media platform where you found it.
• Keep the advert, the messages, the bank details you paid and any receipt.

Where this comes from

The Tenant Fees Act 2019 on legislation.gov.uk: section 1, Schedule 1, paragraph 3 (the cap) and Schedule 2 (the deadline, refunds and when it can be kept). GOV.UK’s Tenant Fees Act guidance for tenants, the statutory guidance as amended by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, rent in advance and deposits, the Home Office’s rental fraud warning and staying safe from scammers; Stop! Think Fraud; and Report Fraud.

General information, not legal advice. RenterCheck is independent and not connected with the government or any landlord or letting agent.