Housing Act 2004, England
Deposit receipt template. With the two 30-day deadlines on it.
A deposit receipt records that the money arrived, from whom and on which day. It does not protect the deposit and it is not the Prescribed Information. Those are two separate duties, each due within 30 days beginning with the day the deposit is received, and the receipt prints both dates.
LetCompliance is online software that runs your whole let: finding and referencing the tenant, the agreement, the rent, repairs and the tax. The PDF costs nothing and needs no account.
Written for
- New lets
- Joint tenants
- Parents paying
- Agents
- to protect it and give the information
- 30 days
- from the day it arrives, Housing Act 2004 s.213
- the deposit, if a court finds a duty was missed
- 1 to 3 times
- Paid to whoever applies to the county court: the tenant, or the person who paid the deposit for them.
- Housing Act 2004 s.214(4)
- the most a deposit can be, 6 at £50,000 a year or more
- 5 weeks
- Tenant Fees Act 2019 Sch 1 para 2
Last updated . Law checked against legislation.gov.uk and GOV.UK on . Sources
The deposit receipt
Build a deposit receipt, with both deadlines worked out.
Fill in who paid, who received it and the day it arrived. The PDF downloads here, with a copy sent to your inbox. Nothing is stamped across it: this is the copy to give the tenant.
Page one of the PDF, made-up details
The PDF costs nothing and needs no account. Nothing is stamped across it: this is the copy to use.
In an account the deposit is kept on the tenancy, with reminders before day 30 and the Prescribed Information built for you: from £7.99 a month for one property or £14.99 for up to three.
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The answer
Deposit receipts: what the receipt does, and what it does not
A deposit receipt records the amount, who paid it, how, and the day it arrived. The day matters most. The 30 days the law gives a landlord begin with the day the deposit is received, so a deposit received on 1 September must be protected, and the information given, by 30 September. The receipt prints both dates.
Two duties run from that day. Under section 213 of the Housing Act 2004 the deposit must be protected in an authorised scheme, meeting its initial requirements, within the period of 30 days beginning with the date it is received, and the Prescribed Information must be given within the same 30 days, to the tenant and to any relevant person: someone who paid the deposit for the tenant, such as a parent. The Prescribed Information is set by a 2007 order: the scheme’s details and procedures, the amount, the property, everyone’s contact details, when the landlord may keep some or all of the deposit, and a certificate signed by the landlord. A receipt is none of that, and the PDF says so in plain words.
If the duties are missed, the tenant can apply to the county court, which must order the landlord to pay between one and three times the deposit (section 214(4)). And until the deposit is held in a scheme and the information given, the court cannot make a possession order on any ground other than Grounds 7A and 14, unless the deposit has been returned or the penalty claim settled or decided (section 215).
In LetCompliance the deposit is recorded on the tenancy with the day it arrived. Reminders go 14, 7 and 1 days before the 30-day deadline, the Prescribed Information is built as a PDF from the same record, naming every landlord, and it goes to the tenant in the move-in pack with the date recorded. LetCompliance does not hold or protect deposits: the scheme does that.
Side by side
The receipt records the day. The account keeps the 30 days.
What this PDF and a paid plan each do with the deposit.
| Feature | This PDF£0no account | Paid plans£7.99/moSingle, one property |
|---|---|---|
| 01The receipt | ||
| The amount, the day it arrived and who paid | PDFIncluded | PaidIncluded |
| Both 30-day deadline dates | PDFIncluded | PaidIncluded |
| Checked against the deposit cap | PDFIncluded | PaidIncluded |
| 02The 30 days | ||
| The deposit recorded on the tenancy | PDFNot included | PaidIncluded |
| Reminders 14, 7 and 1 days before the deadline | PDFNot included | PaidIncluded |
| The Prescribed Information as a PDF, every landlord named | PDFNot included | PaidIncluded |
| Sent in the move-in pack, the date recorded | PDFNot included | PaidIncluded |
| 03At the end of the tenancy | ||
| Check-in inventory and check-out comparison | PDFNot included | PaidIncluded |
| A deposit dispute pack for the schemePaid plans, not the trial. | PDFNot included | PaidIncluded |
Plans from £7.99 a month. The 3-day trial needs no card.
Get startedWhat the account adds
After the receipt: the 30 days and the end of the tenancy.
Six things an account does with the same deposit.
- 01
Reminders before day 30
The deadline is counted from the day the deposit arrived, with reminders 14, 7 and 1 days before it.
- 02
The Prescribed Information from the record
Built as a PDF from the deposit and the tenancy, with the scheme, the amount, the property and everyone’s details filled in.
- 03
Every landlord named
Joint landlords each appear on the Prescribed Information, as the tenancy record holds them.
- 04
The move-in pack, logged
The Prescribed Information goes to the tenant in one email with the other move-in documents, and the date it went is recorded.
- 05Every paid plan and the trial
Inventories at both ends
Room by room with photos at the start, compared item by item at the end, so the deposit conversation starts from evidence.
- 06
The return recorded
The deposit’s return at the end of the tenancy is recorded on the same tenancy.
One login, the whole let. You are on step 6 of 12.
Before they move in
Once they are in
A receipt records one day. The account covers the rest of the let: the advert and applications, referencing, the signed tenancy, the deposit deadlines, the check-in, the rent every month, the inspections, the check-out, and the tax figures at the end of it.
Sources
- Housing Act 2004, section 213 (the 30 days and the information)
- Housing Act 2004, section 214 (one to three times the deposit)
- Housing Act 2004, section 215 (the possession bar)
- Housing (Tenancy Deposits) (Prescribed Information) Order 2007, article 2
- Tenant Fees Act 2019, Schedule 1 (the deposit cap)
- GOV.UK: Deposit protection schemes and landlords
FAQ
Deposit receipt questions, answered.
Is a deposit receipt the Prescribed Information?
No. The Prescribed Information is set by the Housing (Tenancy Deposits) (Prescribed Information) Order 2007: the scheme’s contact details and procedures, the amount, the property, the landlord’s, tenant’s and any relevant person’s details, when the landlord may keep some or all of the deposit, and a certificate signed by the landlord. It must be given to the tenant and any relevant person within 30 days of the deposit arriving (Housing Act 2004 s.213(5) and (6)). A receipt records that the money arrived. It does neither job, and it does not protect the deposit.
When do the 30 days start?
On the day the deposit is received. Section 213 counts the 30 days as beginning with that date, so that day is day 1: a deposit received on 1 September must be protected, and the information given, by 30 September.
A parent paid the deposit. Does that change anything?
Yes. Someone who paid the deposit for the tenant, under arrangements made with the tenant, is a relevant person (Housing Act 2004 s.213(10)), and the Prescribed Information has to go to them as well as to the tenant. The receipt records who paid it and says when someone paid on the tenant’s behalf.
How much can a deposit be?
Five weeks’ rent, or six weeks’ where the annual rent is £50,000 or more (Tenant Fees Act 2019 Sch 1 para 2). Anything above the cap is a prohibited payment, so the template will not build a receipt for more than the cap for the rent you enter.
What if the deposit is not protected in time?
The tenant, or anyone who paid it for them, can apply to the county court, which must order the landlord to pay between one and three times the deposit (Housing Act 2004 s.214(4)). And until the deposit is held in a scheme and the information given, the court cannot make a possession order on any ground other than Grounds 7A and 14, unless the deposit has been returned or the penalty claim settled or decided (section 215).
Can a deposit be something other than money?
No. Section 213(7) says no person may require a deposit which consists of property other than money in connection with an assured tenancy. The form takes a bank transfer, a card payment, cash or another form of money.
Is a holding deposit the same thing?
No. A holding deposit is paid to hold a home while the tenancy is agreed, can be no more than one week’s rent, and has its own rules in Schedules 1 and 2 to the Tenant Fees Act 2019. This receipt is for the tenancy deposit.
What does LetCompliance do with the deposit?
It keeps the dates and the paperwork, never the money. On every plan the deposit is recorded on the tenancy with the day it arrived, reminders go 14, 7 and 1 days before the 30-day deadline, and the Prescribed Information is built as a PDF naming every landlord and sent in the move-in pack with the date recorded. LetCompliance does not hold or protect deposits: the scheme you choose does that.
