This is the sum of money paid to a landlord or letting agent to reserve a rental property before the signing of a tenancy agreement – in other words, it takes the property off the market so no one else can get it. A holding deposit is normally non-refundable if you wish to withdraw your application for tenancy.

This is the amount of money held by the landlord throughout the tenancy; and will be used at the end of the tenancy if any repairs, maintenance and/or cleaning is required by fault of the tenants, to bring the property back to the condition it was in at the commencement of the tenancy. The sum of money can vary between 4 - 6 weeks rent. If the house has been left in a satisfactory condition, the money will be returned back to you.

The Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) forces landlords to protect their tenants' deposits with one of the three authorised schemes. At the end of the tenancy, the Landlord must return the deposit to the tenant, or pass it over to the authorised scheme and register a dispute. The scheme will provide a free alternative dispute resolution service, but if either the landlord or tenant(s) do not agree to this, then the dispute will be resolved in the courts.

Landlords must tell their tenants within 30 days of moving in which scheme the deposit has been registered with.