From 6 April 2007, all deposits (for rent up to £25,000 per annum) taken by landlords and letting agents for Assured Shorthold Tenancies in England and Wales, must be protected by a tenancy deposit protection scheme. Click above to check the rules.

Below is an extract from a Newspaper Article about Tenancy Deposit Scheme regulations, click the picture above to read the full article.

Citizens Advice says the legislation has generally been a success, with 1m deposits, totalling almost £1bn, now being safeguarded. But some tenants are still losing out according to Adam Sampson, chief executive at Shelter. "Some landlords still don't know about the schemes and others are using legal loopholes to escape them," he says. You can't put your own deposit in a scheme but you can remind your landlord that it is the law.

If they refuse to, or won't tell you which one your deposit is in, you can take them to court where they'll be ordered to either put the money in a scheme or pay it back to you. In most cases the judge will also order your landlord to pay you three times your deposit as a fine.

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