Paying interest on deposits
If your deposit is held with us in our Custodial deposit protection scheme, after 182 days you will earn interest on it. This means that at the end of your tenancy you might receive interest in addition to getting your deposit back.
What does this mean for you?
- Once your deposit has been protected with mydeposits for longer than 182 days you will start to earn interest on it, the interest will be calculated from the first day we start protecting your deposit
- The interest earned will be calculated on a daily basis using the current interest rate and that of DPS, this will currently accrue at the rate of 0.73%
- Any interest you have earned at the end of the tenancy will become available when your deposit balance is £0
- If your landlord chooses to transfer your deposit to a different deposit protection provider, we’ll transfer any interest along with your deposit. Please note, you will need to claim this back from the new deposit provider at the end of your tenancy
- Payment of interest will be made within 10 working days of the tenant contacting us about interest post release
- Payment of interest will only be entitled by BACs, we will not send any interest by cheque
- Interest will only be calculated and accrued from 1 July 2023 onwards
Donating your interest to charity
If you would prefer, you have the option to donate the interest earned to our chosen charity, Centrepoint, instead of claiming it yourself.
You can let us know if you choose to donate your interest to the UK’s leading youth homelessness charity, Centrepoint, at any point during your tenancy or at the end of tenancy, on your online account. At mydeposits, we have chosen Centrepoint as our charity of choice and are working alongside them to support their campaign to end youth homelessness by 2037.
Who are Centrepoint?
The UK’s leading youth homelessness charity, reaching over 16,000 young people every year. Starting out as a night shelter, Centrepoint’s work with young people has evolved beyond all recognition over the last 50 years.
At mydeposits, we have chosen Centrepoint as our charity of choice and are working alongside them to support their campaign to end youth homelessness by 2037.
In the first six months, tenants have already chosen to generously donate over £148,000 to Centrepoint.
From providing more than 800 bed spaces for homeless young people to offering educational and rough sleeping and resettlement services, Centrepoint are making a real difference to helping young people move on from homelessness into an independent life. But with more than 129,000 young people experiencing homelessness last year, and one young person facing homelessness ever four minutes, they are in need more than ever.
Donations go a long way:
- £20 could fund a counselling session, ensuring those experiencing a mental health crisis can start receiving vital specialist support that they need
- £120 could fund essential starter packs for 50 homeless young people arriving at Centrepoint hostels, ensuring they have fresh bedding, towels, toiletries, cooking equipment and winter clothing
- £250 could support someone on Centrepoint’s Educational Bursary Scheme, paying for course fees and the essential travel costs and items needed to access and engage in an education and training course
By choosing to donate your interest you will be helping to fund Centrepoint’s vital work supporting homeless young people on their journey towards independence.
Frequently asked questions
Swapping a tenant: Insured: How to action this?
- email info@mydeposits.co.uk or contact us via live chat confirming:
- DPC
- vacating tenant
- replacing tenant
- who the lead tenant is if the lead tenant has vacated
- deposit ID (starting EWC)
- vacating tenant
- replacing tenant
- replacing tenant contact details including email address & mobile number
- who the lead tenant is if the lead tenant has vacated
- deposit ID (starting EWC)
- vacating tenant
When can we action this?
We can action this at any time while the deposit status remains protected and there is more than one tenant on the protection. When can’t we action this? If the tenancy is a sole tenancy, this would require a deposit release.Adding a tenant:
Insured: How to action this?- Email info@mydeposits.co.uk or contact us via live chat confirming:
- DPC
- additional tenant name
- deposit ID (starting EWC)
- additional tenant
- additional tenant contact details including email address and mobile number
Since April 2007, it has been a legal requirement to protect tenants’ deposits in a government approved tenancy deposit scheme. No matter how or where it is protected, the deposit belongs to the tenant. The Housing Act 2004 covers all deposits taken on Assured Short-hold Tenancies (ASTs) in England and Occupation Contracts in Wales as of 1 December 2022, under the Renting Home (Wales) Act 2016. It allows tenants to safely recover their deposit at the end of the tenancy, unless landlords or agents propose costs for any breach of the tenancy agreement, which they can prove with evidence. mydeposits is one of three government authorised schemes and all three deposit protection schemes offer a free resolution service.
If you do not protect a deposit within 30 days of receiving it and serve the prescribed information, you could face a number of penalties including:
- being unable to recover possession of the property using a Section 21 notice
- being required to lodge the deposit with a custodial scheme or return the deposit to the tenant within 14 days
- paying the tenant between one and three times the deposit amount in compensation as well as refunding the full deposit
A private landlord owns the property in their individual name, e.g. Mr Michael Smith. A company landlord owns the property in the name of a company, e.g. Michael Smith Properties Limited. This is considered a separate legal entity in the same way as a public or private limited company, partnership or limited liability partnership. When applying for membership, the name must reflect the name listed on the land registry for the property and deposit you are protecting. If you wish to protect deposits taken on properties both in your own name and a company name, you will need to set up separate memberships.
If you choose to use an agent to manage your property on your behalf, they will be our insured or custodial member and you will not have access to the deposit protection information or be able to contact us directly. We strongly recommend you request proof of the deposit protection, and proof that the prescribed information has been provided to the tenant, and any interested party, as you will remain legally responsible for the deposit under the Housing Act 2004.
Custodial: Our custodial scheme is free of charge to use. Insured: It is free for you to join as a private and company landlord but fees apply for protecting deposits. A new protection IS required each time you give the same tenant(s) a new fixed term tenancy, which will incur a new fee in the same way as a new tenancy.
No fee will apply if the original tenancy agreement extends into a statutory or contractual periodic tenancy (SPT/CPT), and you inform us no later than 30 days after the fixed term end date.
| Deposit protection | Standard pay as you go fee | Discounted fee for NRLA members |
|---|---|---|
| Up to £500 | £20 | £13.20 |
| Over £500 | £27.20 | £17.95 |
AUP stands for ‘automatic unprotection’ and only happens for insured protections. This means we will automatically unprotect the tenant’s deposit and inform you, the tenant and any interested party if you do not update the protection status within 30 calendar days after the fixed end date of the tenancy, which you registered at the point of protection. We will send you four notifications reminding you to update your tenancy deposit protection status. You will need to let us know if:
If the deposit is automatically unprotected you can contact us within 30 days of the automatic unprotection and pay to reinstate the deposit protection at the original protection fee. You will not have to reserve the prescribed information as former protection will be reinstated. If you contact us outside the 30 day period, you will need to purchase a new deposit protection and re-issue new prescribed information.
- the tenancy has ended and the deposit needs to be unprotected
- the tenancy is extending into a periodic tenancy, whether contractual or statutory
- the tenancy has been renewed with a new fixed term
If the deposit is automatically unprotected you can contact us within 30 days of the automatic unprotection and pay to reinstate the deposit protection at the original protection fee. You will not have to reserve the prescribed information as former protection will be reinstated. If you contact us outside the 30 day period, you will need to purchase a new deposit protection and re-issue new prescribed information.By law we need to notify the tenant if the protection status changes at any point during the tenancy and then at the end of the tenancy. Insured: When you register the deposit protection, we will ask you to provide an email address and contact number for your tenant. Where this information is not available you may enter the rental property address which the tenant can then update at any point by emailing or calling us. Custodial: When you register the deposit protection, we will ask you to provide an alternative address for your tenant (this is not mandatory), an email address and contact number. This is so we can provide them with details on how to access their online portal as well as notifying them of any changes to their protection such as a deposit release request.
The following rule now applies to deposits:
- Where annual rent is £50,000 or below, a maximum of 5 weeks’ rent can be taken.
- Where annual rent is £50,001 or above, a maximum of 6 weeks’ rent can be taken.