Deposit cap calculator
How much can I take as a deposit, and is the one I have already taken over the line?
Rules last read at source on 20 September 2026. England only — Scotland and Wales are different regimes, and none of this applies there.
The rent
The rent for the property, before anything is deducted from it.
Already taken a deposit?
Optional. Enter it and the page will say whether it sits under the cap, and by how much it misses if not.
Enter the rent and this will show the most you may lawfully take as a deposit — five weeks’ rent, or six where the annual rent reaches £50,000.
What this does not tell you
It works from what you typed in, and nothing else. Every one of these is a way the answer above can be right and your position still be wrong.
It is arithmetic on the rent you type in. It cannot see the tenancy agreement, and the rent the cap is measured against is the one the agreement sets rather than the one anybody remembers.
Being under the cap is not the end of the duty. The money still has to reach an authorised scheme, and the prescribed information still has to reach the tenant, both within 30 days of receipt.
The cap is measured against the annual rent immediately after the tenancy is granted, renewed or continued. A rent increase later in the tenancy does not raise the ceiling on a deposit already held.
It assumes an assured tenancy in England with the deposit held by the landlord or their agent. A company let, a lodger in your own home and a deposit replacement product are each a different question.
England only. The Tenant Fees Act applies here; Wales has its own equivalent and Scotland a separate regime, and neither set of numbers is on this page.
Answers, in plain terms
How much deposit can a landlord take in England?
Five weeks' rent, or six weeks' rent where the annual rent is £50,000 or more. The Tenant Fees Act 2019 sets both, and anything above the applicable one is a prohibited payment rather than a deposit - the excess has to be returned, and protecting it does not make it lawful.
What counts as a week's rent?
The annual rent divided by 52, whatever the rent is actually paid. That is the Act's own definition and it is where the arithmetic usually goes wrong: a month is 4.33 weeks, not four, so five weeks' rent is the monthly rent multiplied by about 1.15 rather than by 1.25. Using the rounder figure overstates the cap by roughly 8%.
Is the £50,000 threshold on the rent or on my income?
On the annual rent for that property, which is the monthly rent multiplied by twelve. It has nothing to do with the landlord's income or the size of the portfolio. A property at £4,167 a month sits just under it and one at £4,200 sits just over, and that £33 moves the cap by a full week's rent.
Can I take more because of a pet, or because the tenant has no guarantor?
No. The cap is the cap, and a pet deposit, a higher deposit in place of a guarantor and a charge for a pet are all prohibited payments. Asking for extra rent in advance instead does not work either: you may require at most one month's rent in advance once the agreement is signed.
Does a holding deposit count towards the tenancy deposit?
It is a separate payment with its own cap of one week's rent, but it is usually put towards the rent or the deposit once the tenancy goes ahead - with the tenant's written consent. What it may not do is take the total above the tenancy deposit cap by arriving first.
Tenarize runs this same calculation against your actual tenancies
The code behind this page is a copy of the code behind the product, kept in step by a check that fails our build if the two ever disagree. The difference is that inside Tenarize it runs against dates already on file, and tells you before the deadline rather than when you think to ask.