The tenancy deposit cap: the five-week rule and the annual rent line

Checked 22 July 2026 · How we check our figures

Jump to: The decision · What next · Numbers · Deadlines · Mistakes

What it is

The Tenant Fees Act 2019 caps what a landlord or letting agent in England can take as a tenancy deposit on the tenancies it covers: five weeks of rent where the annual rent is under 50,000 pounds, six weeks at 50,000 pounds or more, Sch 1 para 2. Renters and agents tend to call it the five-week rule, and the week is defined in the Act itself: the annual rent divided by 52, para 2(4). Anything above the cap is a prohibited payment, para 2(3), and the deposit cap calculator does the division.

Reading the notice

The annual rent line in the agreement decides the cap: under 50,000 pounds means five weeks, 50,000 pounds or more means six, para 2

A week of rent is the annual rent divided by 52, not a month divided by four, para 2(4)

A holding deposit is a different payment with its own one-week cap, para 3, and its own clocks in Sch 2: a 15-day default deadline for the agreement and 7 days for repayment (MHCLG statutory guidance, gov.uk)

The decision in front of you

Checking the arithmetic before paying costs nothing: rent by 52, times five or six, and the calculator at /fines/deposit-cap carries the current worked examples

Asking for the excess back is asking for a prohibited payment to be returned, para 2(3)

A report to the council brings Trading Standards in: the statutory guidance prices a first breach at up to 5,000 pounds under s. 8, and a repeat within five years at up to 30,000 pounds or prosecution

An application to the First-tier Tribunal under s. 15 recovers what was actually paid over, the loss itself rather than compensation (MHCLG statutory guidance)

Paying quietly is the losing option: the excess is a prohibited payment either way, para 2(3), and doing nothing leaves it with the landlord unless repayment is asked for or ordered

What happens next

The deposit that is lawfully taken must still sit in a government backed scheme within 30 days, s. 213 Housing Act 2004, and failing the scheme duties carries an award of between one and three times the deposit at the court's discretion, s. 214

For tenancies from before 1 June 2019, the amount above the cap becomes repayable when the tenancy ends or renews (MHCLG statutory guidance)

Wales runs its own regime under the Renting Homes (Fees etc.) (Wales) Act 2019, and the government's enforcement guidance places tenancies above 100,000 pounds a year outside the Act

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 has been rebuilding tenancy law in stages since 1 May 2026; the caps in Sch 1 stood unchanged against the revised text on 22 July 2026

The numbers

Five weeks under 50,000 pounds annual rent, six weeks at 50,000 pounds or more (Sch 1 para 2 Tenant Fees Act 2019; legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-07-22)

One week of rent is the annual rent divided by 52 (para 2(4))

Holding deposit: one week of rent (para 3)

Breach: up to 5,000 pounds, and up to 30,000 pounds or prosecution for a repeat within five years (MHCLG statutory guidance, updated 1 May 2026)

Protection: 30 days (s. 213 Housing Act 2004)

The deadlines

Holding deposit repayment: 7 days from the trigger, with a 15-day default deadline for signing the agreement, Sch 2 (MHCLG statutory guidance)

Deposit protection: within 30 days of payment, s. 213 Housing Act 2004

Trading Standards must serve a notice of intent within six months of having sufficient evidence of the breach (MHCLG statutory guidance)

What people get wrong

Working the week from a month: the Act divides the annual rent by 52, para 2(4), so a month divided by four overshoots the cap by a full week

Reading five weeks as universal: at exactly 50,000 pounds a year the cap is six weeks, not five

Mixing the cap with protection: the cap is the Tenant Fees Act 2019, the 30-day scheme duty is the Housing Act 2004, and each fails on its own

Authority

Sch 1 paras 2 and 3, Sch 2 Tenant Fees Act 2019

ss. 8, 10 and 15 Tenant Fees Act 2019

ss. 213 and 214 Housing Act 2004

MHCLG, Tenant Fees Act 2019 statutory guidance for enforcement authorities, gov.uk, updated 1 May 2026