Tenancy deposits: the 30-day rule and what software should do

The rule

gov.uk states that a landlord must put a deposit in a government-approved tenancy deposit scheme if the home is rented on an assured shorthold tenancy that started after 6 April 2007, and that the landlord or letting agent 'must put your deposit in the scheme within 30 days of getting it' (gov.uk, read 15 August 2026). In England and Wales the deposit can be registered with the Deposit Protection Service, MyDeposits (including deposits that were held by Capita), or the Tenancy Deposit Scheme. Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate schemes.

Three details that catch agents out

• The end of the tenancy has its own clock. gov.uk states the deposit must be returned within 10 days of both parties agreeing how much comes back, and that it stays protected in the scheme while a dispute is unresolved.
• Holding deposits change character. A holding deposit does not have to be protected, but gov.uk states that once the payer becomes a tenant the holding deposit becomes a deposit, which must be protected. That transition is a diary event, and it is exactly the sort of thing a system should raise rather than a person remember.
• Third-party payers still count. gov.uk states a landlord must use a scheme even if the deposit is paid by someone else, such as a rent deposit scheme or the tenant's parents.

What the suppliers say about deposits

Only four of the eight systems compared on this site describe deposit handling on the pages we read. Dezrez states you can view and track deposit details with automatic calculations, removing manual errors. Reapit states more flexibility when allocating and reconciling deposits and receipts. Street.co.uk names deposit management as part of its client accounting workflow. Goodlord collects deposits as part of the move-in flow and states that audit logs help avoid deposit disputes. Apex27, PayProp, Arthur Online and Acquaint CRM do not describe deposit handling on the pages we read, which does not mean the function is absent: it means the question is yours to ask.

Registration with a scheme happens in the scheme's own system, or through an integration the scheme provides. Software that tracks the deadline is not the same as software that registers the deposit, and a supplier saying 'deposits' on a feature list may mean either. Ask which.

How to test a system against the deadline

1. Ask where the date the deposit was received is recorded, and whether it is the date of the bank credit or the date somebody typed it in.
2. Ask what the system does on day 20 if the deposit is still unregistered, and who receives that alert.
3. Ask whether registration happens through an integration with the Deposit Protection Service, MyDeposits or the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, or whether a person rekeys it into the scheme's portal.
4. Ask what the system stores as evidence of registration, and how quickly you can produce it for a single tenancy from two years ago.
5. Ask how a holding deposit becoming a tenancy deposit is handled, since that is where the 30-day clock starts for a surprising number of tenancies.

Client money protection and deposit protection are not the same thing

gov.uk says so explicitly on its client money protection page. Deposit protection covers a specific sum held for a specific tenancy in a scheme designed to adjudicate disputes at the end of it. Client money protection covers rent, float and everything else your agency holds on behalf of landlords and tenants, and compensates them if the agency cannot repay it. An agency needs both, and no software provides either: they are memberships you hold and duties you meet.