Tenancy deposit cap
The tenancy deposit cap is the maximum amount a landlord can require as a tenancy deposit from a residential tenant in England. It was introduced by the Tenant Fees Act 2019 and applies to all assured tenancies and licences to occupy in the private rented sector. The cap is set by legislation.gov.uk's Tenant Fees Act 2019 at Schedule 1, paragraph 3.
The limits are:
Five weeks' rent - for tenancies where the annual rent is less than £50,000. This is the cap that applies to the vast majority of private lets in England.
Six weeks' rent - for tenancies where the annual rent is £50,000 or more per year.
The calculation is: annual rent ÷ 52 × 5 (or × 6 for higher-rent properties). For a tenancy at £1,200 per month (£14,400 per year), the cap is £14,400 ÷ 52 × 5 = £1,384.62. A landlord cannot ask for more than this figure as a deposit, regardless of what the tenancy agreement says.
What the cap applies to
The cap covers the security deposit, the sum held against unpaid rent, damage, missing items, and cleaning at the end of the tenancy. It does not apply to a holding deposit, which is separately capped at one week's rent. It does not apply to rent paid in advance that is genuinely rent for specific named periods (rather than a disguised additional deposit). A landlord who tries to circumvent the cap by labelling an excess deposit as "advance rent" without clearly allocating it to specific rent periods risks the whole sum being treated as a prohibited payment.
The cap does not apply to zero deposit schemes, since the tenant in that arrangement pays a non-refundable fee rather than a deposit, though landlords cannot compel tenants to use a zero deposit product as the only option available.
The penalty for exceeding the cap
A deposit that exceeds the cap is a prohibited payment under the Tenant Fees Act 2019. Accepting an excess deposit gives the tenant the right to recover the overpayment, exposes the landlord to a civil penalty of up to £5,000 for a first offence and up to £30,000 for a repeat offence, and can restrict the landlord's ability to use possession proceedings until the excess is returned. The local authority's trading standards or housing team enforces the cap.
Under the Renters' Rights Act, correct deposit handling remains a pre-condition for using key grounds for possession. A deposit compliance failure at the outset of the tenancy can therefore create problems that persist throughout the entire tenancy relationship.
Practical points
The five-week cap applies from the date the tenancy begins, it does not increase if the rent is later raised during the tenancy. Once a deposit has been taken within the cap, it must be protected in a government-approved tenancy deposit scheme within 30 days and the tenant given the scheme's prescribed information.
For the full picture on what landlords can and cannot deduct at the end of a tenancy, how deposit disputes work, and the adjudication process, see our tenancy deposit definition.
