How much can a landlord charge for a deposit?

In England, the legal rent-deposit cap is five weeks’ rent below £50,000 annual rent and six weeks’ rent from £50,000 up to the point where the Tenant Fees Act stops applying. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland use different rules, so UK rental deposit laws are not one single formula.

How much can a landlord charge for a deposit?

Wales currently has no legal security-deposit limit, England caps most tenancy deposits at five weeks’ rent below £50,000 annual rent and six weeks’ rent from £50,000 up to £100,000, Northern Ireland caps the deposit at one month’s rent, and Scotland has its own two-month rule. For England, the Tenant Fees Act applies only to “a tenancy of housing in England”, and Schedule 1 makes a deposit above “the amount of five weeks' rent” a prohibited payment where annual rent is under £50,000, or above “the amount of six weeks' rent” where annual rent is £50,000 or more. The six-week formula is England-only, and it disappears entirely where annual rent is over £100,000 because MHCLG says: “Properties with an annual rent of more than £100,000 are not covered by the Tenant Fees Act.” In Wales, government guidance says: “There is currently no limit placed on an amount of deposit,” although one month to six weeks is a market norm, not a legal deposit cap. In Northern Ireland, the rule is simpler: “A landlord cannot ask for or retain a tenancy deposit that is more than one month’s rent.”

How do you work out five weeks' rent?

In England, work out a five weeks’ rent deposit by multiplying the annual rent by 5 and dividing by 52; for monthly rent, multiply the monthly rent by 12, divide by 52, then multiply by 5. The Tenant Fees Act defines the calculation directly: “‘five weeks' rent’ means five times one week's rent,” and “‘one week's rent’ means the amount of the annual rent payable in respect of the tenancy immediately after its grant, renewal or continuance divided by 52.” So a £1,200 monthly rent gives £14,400 annual rent, £276.92 weekly rent, and a five-week cap of £1,384.61. Do not round up just because an online deposit calculator does: mydeposits warns that its calculator “rounds the deposit up by 1p,” but the Act itself contains no rounding-up rule. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland do not use the England five weeks’ rent deposit calculator formula; Northern Ireland’s non-monthly cap instead uses the daily rent multiplied by 30.

How much deposit can a landlord ask for in Scotland?

In Scotland, a landlord can ask for a refundable tenancy deposit of up to two months’ rent. The Scottish Government states the answer plainly: “You can ask your tenant for a deposit of up to 2 months’ rent.” The statutory route is the Rent (Scotland) Act 1984, which says a returnable deposit is not a banned premium “provided that it does not exceed the amount of two months’ rent payable under the tenancy,” and the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 applies that rule to private residential tenancies. That means Scotland does not use England’s five-week or six-week Tenant Fees Act cap, and a landlord calculating a Scottish deposit should not use annual rent divided by 52. The legal ceiling is two months’ rent, though many actual Scottish deposits are lower: TDS reported the average Scottish protected deposit at £885.90 in March 2025.

Last reviewed September 2026.

Sources

• Tenant Fees Act 2019 s.1 — “A landlord must not require a relevant person to make a prohibited payment to the landlord in connection with a tenancy of housing in England.” Source
• Tenant Fees Act 2019 Sch.1 para.2(3)(a) — “the amount of five weeks' rent” Source
• Tenant Fees Act 2019 Sch.1 para.2(3)(b) — “the amount of six weeks' rent” Source
• MHCLG, Tenant Fees Act 2019 statutory guidance for enforcement authorities — “Properties with an annual rent of more than £100,000 are not covered by the Tenant Fees Act.” Source
• Welsh Government, letting fees guidance for landlords and letting agents — “There is currently no limit placed on an amount of deposit, but should a limit be introduced, any amount above that limit will be regarded as a prohibited payment.” Source
• Department for Communities Northern Ireland, Private Tenancies Act sections 4–6 — “A landlord cannot ask for or retain a tenancy deposit that is more than one month’s rent.” Source
• Tenant Fees Act 2019 Sch.1 para.2(6)(a) — “‘five weeks' rent’ means five times one week's rent,” Source
• Tenant Fees Act 2019 Sch.1 para.2(6)(c) — “‘one week's rent’ means the amount of the annual rent payable in respect of the tenancy immediately after its grant, renewal or continuance divided by 52.” Source
• mydeposits deposit calculator — “Please be aware that the calculator rounds the deposit up by 1p.” Source
• mygov.scot, landlord deposits — “You can ask your tenant for a deposit of up to 2 months’ rent.” Source
• Rent (Scotland) Act 1984 s.90(3) — “provided that it does not exceed the amount of two months’ rent payable under the tenancy” Source
• Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 s.20 — “Sections 82, 83 and 86 to 90 of the Rent (Scotland) Act 1984 apply in relation to a private residential tenancy as they apply in relation to a tenancy of the kind to which those sections refer.” Source
• TDS Statistical Briefing 2025 — “However, the total value increased to £215.5 million, up from £203.7 million, with the average Scottish deposit rising to £885.90.” Source