Prescribed Information for Tenancy Deposits in England: What to Serve and How

It Is Not the Same as the Protection Certificate

This is the single most common compliance mistake self-managing landlords make: they register the deposit with DPS, TDS or mydeposits, download the protection certificate, and assume the job is done. It is not.

For a deposit taken in connection with an assured tenancy, Section 213(5) and (6) of the Housing Act 2004 and the Housing (Tenancy Deposits) (Prescribed Information) Order 2007 (SI 2007/797) require both deposit protection and service of Prescribed Information. Missing either duty can trigger a Section 214 penalty of one to three times the deposit.

The protection certificate proves the money is registered with a scheme. The Prescribed Information is a statutory notice that tells the tenant everything they need to know about where the deposit is, who holds it, how disputes work, and under what circumstances the landlord may make deductions. They are different documents with different legal functions.

What Must Be Included

For deposits subject to the statutory protection rules, the Prescribed Information Order requires the landlord to serve the following:

About the scheme:

• Name, address, telephone number and email of the chosen scheme operator (DPS, TDS or mydeposits)
• The scheme's official information leaflet explaining its rules and dispute procedures — attached directly, not just referenced

About the deposit:

• Exact amount received and protected
• The property address

About the parties:

• Full name, address, telephone number and email of the landlord (and any managing agent)
• Full name and contact details of every named tenant
• Full name and contact details of any Relevant Person — someone who paid the deposit on the tenant's behalf (for example, a parent, employer or local authority; a guarantor only if they paid the deposit)

About deductions:

• The specific contractual circumstances under which the landlord may make deductions at the end of the tenancy — these must match the deduction clauses in the tenancy agreement (rent arrears, damage beyond fair wear and tear, cleaning needed to restore the check-in condition, missing keys)

Landlord declaration:

• A signed statement certifying that the information is accurate, with space for the tenant to acknowledge receipt

How to Serve It

The Prescribed Information must be served on every named tenant on the tenancy agreement and on any Relevant Person who contributed to the deposit. Acceptable methods:

Hand delivery — the most reliable. Have the tenant sign and date a receipt at the point of handover. For joint tenancies, every tenant signs individually.

First-class post or signed-for delivery — deemed served two business days after posting under the Civil Procedure Rules. Keep the proof of postage or tracking confirmation.

Email — legally valid only when the tenancy agreement explicitly authorises electronic service of legal notices and the tenant has provided a valid email address for this purpose. Even then, you should obtain a read receipt or written confirmation from the tenant.

Whichever method you use, keep the proof indefinitely. If a Section 214 claim is brought, the burden of proving service falls on you.

The 30-Day Deadline Applies to Service Too

Both protection and service must be completed within 30 calendar days of receiving the deposit. It is not enough to protect the deposit on Day 10 and serve the Prescribed Information on Day 40. Late service is non-compliance, even if the deposit itself was protected on time.

This catches landlords who protect promptly but then take weeks to compile the Prescribed Information form, chase tenant signatures, or wait for the scheme leaflet to arrive.

When You Need to Re-Serve

The Prescribed Information is not a one-time document. You must prepare and serve a fresh copy (or an updated version) whenever:

• A joint tenant changes — serve on the incoming and remaining tenants within 30 days
• The landlord changes (property sale) — serve fresh Prescribed Information with the new landlord's details within 30 days
• You switch deposit schemes — serve updated information reflecting the new scheme within 30 days
• You collect a deposit top-up after a rent increase — serve updated information covering the new total within 30 days

Under the deemed compliance provisions of the Deregulation Act 2015, you do not need to re-serve when a tenancy converts from fixed term to periodic (or when an AST converted to an Assured Periodic Tenancy on 1 May 2026 under the Renters' Rights Act), provided the original protection and service were completed correctly.

Use the Scheme Template as a Starting Point

Each of the three schemes generates a Prescribed Information template when you register a deposit. DPS, TDS and mydeposits all produce their own version. These templates cover most of the required fields, but you should check:

• That the deduction grounds match your tenancy agreement exactly
• That all Relevant Persons are listed (the scheme may not prompt for them)
• That the scheme leaflet is attached as a separate document
• That you have space for signatures and dates

Our Tenancy Deposit Protection guide includes a Prescribed Information verification checklist that cross-references every required field from the 2007 Order — so nothing is left to assumption.

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