Deposit Scheme Leaflet Northern Ireland: What Landlords Must Give Tenants

What the Scheme Leaflet Is

When a landlord protects a tenancy deposit in Northern Ireland, part of the prescribed information duty includes providing the tenant with the scheme operator's official explanatory leaflet. This is not a generic leaflet you write yourself — it is a specific document produced by TDS Northern Ireland or mydeposits Northern Ireland under Regulation 37 of the Tenancy Deposit Schemes Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012.

The leaflet explains to the tenant how the deposit scheme works, what their rights are, how to check their deposit is protected, and how to access the scheme's Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) service if there is a disagreement about deductions at the end of the tenancy.

Serving prescribed information without the scheme leaflet is an incomplete service. The statutory prescribed information under Schedule 1 of the 2012 Regulations requires the leaflet to accompany the other mandatory disclosures — property details, deposit amount, scheme contact information, deduction terms, and dispute procedures.

Where to Get It

TDS Northern Ireland: Download the current leaflet from your TDS NI account dashboard after protecting the deposit. It is also available in the resources section of tdsnorthernireland.com. Make sure you download the Northern Ireland version — TDS operates across multiple UK jurisdictions and the England/Wales leaflet does not satisfy Northern Ireland's statutory requirements.

mydeposits Northern Ireland: Available through the mydepositsni.co.uk portal, typically accessible from the deposit record page or the landlord resources area. Again, confirm you have the NI-specific version.

Give the tenant a copy in person or by post. Electronic service is permissible only where the tenancy agreement authorizes electronic service and specifies a designated tenant email address. The leaflet must be served alongside the rest of the prescribed information within 35 calendar days of receiving the deposit. The tenant's signed acknowledgement should confirm they received both the prescribed information form and the scheme leaflet.

The Consequences of Not Including It

Failure to serve the scheme leaflet as part of prescribed information means the 35-day deadline has not been met, even if every other element was served on time. This is a continuing offence under the Private Tenancies Act (NI) 2022 — the breach accrues daily until the landlord serves the complete prescribed information package.

In deposit disputes, adjudicators check whether the full prescribed information was served. A landlord who protected the deposit on day 15 but never included the scheme leaflet with the prescribed information served on day 30 has technically failed the information duty. At ADR, incomplete prescribed information weakens the landlord's position regardless of the merits of any deduction claim.

Councils enforcing deposit rules can issue fixed penalty notices for non-compliance with the prescribed information requirements. The leaflet is the most commonly forgotten element — landlords remember to fill in the prescribed information form but overlook the leaflet attachment.

Practical Tips

Keep a stock of current leaflets for each scheme you use. When TDS NI or mydeposits NI updates their leaflet (usually after legislative changes), download the new version and use it for all new tenancies going forward. Existing tenancies served with the previous version remain compliant — you do not need to re-serve updated leaflets mid-tenancy unless the terms change.

File your proof of service — the tenant's signed acknowledgement — alongside the Deposit Protection Certificate, the completed prescribed information form, and the check-in inventory. This four-document bundle is the core of your compliance paper trail.

The Tenancy Deposits in Northern Ireland guide includes a delivery record template that lists every document the tenant must receive, with sign-off lines for each, so nothing gets overlooked during the 35-day prescribed information window.

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