Holding Deposit Receipt Template: What to Include for England

A clear holding deposit receipt template is one of the most overlooked pieces of paperwork in the English lettings process, yet getting it wrong can cost you the right to keep a penny of the money and expose you to a Trading Standards penalty. When a prospective tenant hands over a holding deposit to reserve a property, they are entitled to a written record of what they paid, why they paid it, and the circumstances in which they will or will not get it back. This guide explains exactly what an England landlord or agent must put in that document under the Tenant Fees Act 2019, gives you a worked example, and shows you a ready-to-adapt template you can use today.

Everything here is written for England, in force as at June 2026, and reflects the position after the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 changed so much else about letting. Importantly, the Renters’ Rights Act did not change the holding deposit rules, those still sit squarely in the Tenant Fees Act 2019, but the wider regime around tenancies, rent and deposits has moved on, so it is worth understanding where the holding deposit fits.

Why a holding deposit receipt template matters

A holding deposit is the sum a tenant pays to take a property off the market while you carry out referencing and right-to-rent checks. Under the Tenant Fees Act 2019 it is one of the very few payments a landlord or agent is still permitted to take from a tenant, alongside rent, the tenancy deposit, and a small number of default and contractual fees. Because it is a permitted payment with strict conditions attached, the paperwork has to be right.

A receipt is not, strictly speaking, a statutory document in the way a prescribed Section 13 form is. There is no government-issued holding deposit receipt you must copy word for word. But the Act does require you to give the tenant certain information in writing if you intend to keep any of the deposit, and the receipt is the natural and most defensible place to record it. A well-drafted holding deposit receipt template protects you in three ways:

• It proves the date you received the money, which starts the clock on the 15-day “deadline for agreement”.
• It records the agreed terms, so a later dispute about refunds is decided on paper rather than on memory.
• It evidences that you told the tenant, before they paid, the limited grounds on which you could lawfully retain the money.

If you take a holding deposit without any written record and a dispute later lands at the council’s Trading Standards team, you start on the back foot. For the wider context on what these payments are and how they work, see our guide to holding deposits explained.

The legal framework in one paragraph

The rules are short. A holding deposit is capped at one week’s rent, calculated as the annual rent divided by 52. You may take only one holding deposit per property at a time. Once paid, you and the tenant have a deadline for agreement, which is the fifteenth day after the deposit was received unless you both agree a different date in writing. If you enter into the tenancy, the holding deposit must be refunded or, more usually, put towards the first month’s rent or the tenancy deposit with the tenant’s written consent. If the deal falls through, whether you keep the money depends entirely on why. The detailed arithmetic of the cap is set out in our dedicated piece on the holding deposit one-week cap.

What a holding deposit receipt template must include

A robust holding deposit receipt template should capture every fact a Trading Standards officer or a tenant’s adviser would want to see. Treat the list below as your minimum content checklist.

1. The parties. Full legal name of the landlord (and the agent, if one is acting), and the full name of every prospective tenant paying into the deposit.
2. The property. The full address of the property being reserved, including flat or room number where relevant.
3. The amount received. The exact figure in pounds, written in both figures and words to avoid ambiguity, plus confirmation that it does not exceed one week’s rent.
4. The date received. The calendar date the money cleared. This is the date that starts the 15-day clock, so be precise.
5. The payment method. Bank transfer, card, cash, or cheque, and a reference if there is one.
6. The purpose. A plain statement that the sum is a holding deposit paid to reserve the property while referencing and right-to-rent checks are completed, and that it is not rent or the tenancy deposit.
7. The deadline for agreement. The default 15th-day date, or any later date both parties have agreed in writing.
8. What happens if the tenancy goes ahead. Confirmation that the money will be returned within seven days, or applied to the first rent or deposit with the tenant’s written agreement.
9. The grounds for retention. A clear statement of the limited circumstances in which you may lawfully keep the money, failing a right-to-rent check, providing false or misleading information, withdrawing, or failing to take all reasonable steps to enter the tenancy.
10. Refund timescales. Confirmation that any refund due will be paid within seven days of the deadline (or of the tenancy being entered into, or of withdrawal).
11. Signatures and date. Signature lines for both parties and the date of issue.

A receipt that contains all eleven of these elements does double duty as both the proof of payment and the written notice of retention grounds the Act expects.

Lawful grounds to keep a holding deposit

There are only four lawful reasons to retain a holding deposit in England:

• The tenant fails a right-to-rent check and you could not reasonably have known before taking the money.
• The tenant provides false or misleading information that materially affects your decision to let, for example lying about income or rental history.
• The tenant notifies you they are withdrawing from the proposed tenancy.
• The tenant fails to take all reasonable steps to enter into the tenancy before the deadline for agreement, when you have done the same.

If none of these applies, for example you simply decide to let to someone else, or you fail to progress the paperwork, you must refund the full amount. You cannot deduct “admin time” or referencing costs from a holding deposit; those are prohibited payments.

Holding deposit receipt template: a ready-to-use example

Here is a plain-text template you can adapt. Replace the bracketed fields with your own details. It is deliberately neutral so it works whether you are a private landlord or an agent.

HOLDING DEPOSIT RECEIPT

Property: [full address] Landlord: [name] Agent (if any): [name] Prospective tenant(s): [full name(s)]

Amount received: £[figure] ([amount in words]) This sum does not exceed one week’s rent (annual rent £[x] ÷ 52). Date received: [date] Method: [bank transfer / card / cash]

This payment is a holding deposit under the Tenant Fees Act 2019. It reserves the above property while referencing and right-to-rent checks are completed. It is not rent and not the tenancy deposit.

Deadline for agreement: [the 15th day after the date received, or a later date agreed in writing: insert date].

If the tenancy proceeds: the holding deposit will be refunded within 7 days, or, with your written agreement, applied to your first rent payment or tenancy deposit.

We may retain this deposit only if you: (a) fail a right-to-rent check; (b) provide false or misleading information that affects our decision to let; (c) withdraw from the proposed tenancy; or (d) fail to take all reasonable steps to enter the tenancy by the deadline. In every other case it will be refunded within 7 days.

Signed (landlord/agent): __ Date: __ Signed (tenant): _ Date: _____

Keep a dated copy for your records and give the tenant theirs the same day.

Free template vs paid vs software: a comparison

You have three broad routes to a compliant receipt. The table below compares them on the points that actually matter for an England landlord.

A free template is fine for a one-off let if you check the wording against current rules. If you manage several properties, the manual tracking of multiple 15-day deadlines is where mistakes creep in, which is exactly the gap that software closes. For a wider view of what is on the market, see our comparison of the best holding deposit templates for UK landlords.

Worked example: when the tenant withdraws

Imagine the monthly rent on a flat in Leeds is £1,300, so the annual rent is £15,600. One week’s rent, the maximum holding deposit, is £15,600 ÷ 52 = £300.

A prospective tenant, Priya, pays £300 on 1 June to reserve the flat. You issue a holding deposit receipt the same day, recording the date received as 1 June and the deadline for agreement as the 15th day after, which is 16 June. Referencing begins.

On 9 June, Priya emails to say she has been offered a job elsewhere and is withdrawing. Because the tenant has notified you that she is withdrawing, this is one of the four lawful grounds to retain the deposit. You may keep the £300, provided your receipt told her in advance that withdrawal was a retention ground, which yours did.

Now change one fact. Suppose Priya does not withdraw, passes referencing, but on 14 June you decide to let to a higher-paying applicant. None of the four grounds applies to the tenant; the failure to proceed is yours. You must refund the full £300 within seven days. Deducting anything for the referencing you paid for would be an unlawful prohibited payment and could trigger a financial penalty of up to £5,000 for a first offence.

This is why the date on the receipt matters so much: it fixes the deadline, and the deadline determines who bears the risk if the let does not complete.

How the holding deposit fits the wider deposit picture

Landlords sometimes confuse the holding deposit with the tenancy (security) deposit. They are entirely different. The holding deposit reserves the property and is capped at one week’s rent; the tenancy deposit secures the tenant’s obligations during the let and is capped at five weeks’ rent where annual rent is under £50,000, or six weeks’ rent at or above that figure. The tenancy deposit must also be protected in a government-approved scheme within 30 days of receipt, a duty that does not apply to the holding deposit while it is still just a holding deposit.

If, with the tenant’s written consent, you roll the holding deposit into the tenancy deposit once the let goes ahead, the protection clock starts from when it becomes the tenancy deposit. To see how the security deposit rules sit alongside everything else you must do before move-in, our guide on whether you legally need an inventory to protect a tenancy deposit is a useful companion, as is the free holding deposit agreement template for the agreement that sits behind the receipt.

It is also worth setting the holding deposit in the context of how tenancies now begin and end. Since the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 came into force on 1 May 2026, every assured tenancy is periodic from day one, and the route to possession is through the current prescribed form on GOV.UK under Section 8 rather than the abolished Section 21. None of that touches the holding deposit itself, but it changes the tenancy you are reserving. If you want the full picture of how lettings now run end to end, read how tenancies end in England in 2026.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Taking more than one week’s rent. Anything above the cap makes the whole payment a prohibited payment.
• Forgetting to record the date received. Without it you cannot prove when the deadline fell.
• Using a template written before June 2019. Pre-Tenant Fees Act receipts often allow deductions that are now unlawful.
• Deducting referencing or admin costs. You cannot; those are prohibited.
• Missing the seven-day refund window. Late refunds risk penalties and a poor relationship with a tenant you may yet let to.
• Taking two holding deposits on the same property. You may hold only one at a time.

Frequently asked questions

Is a holding deposit receipt a legal requirement in England?

There is no single prescribed form you must use, but the Tenant Fees Act 2019 requires you to give the tenant certain information in writing, particularly the grounds on which you might keep the money, if you want the right to retain any of it. A receipt that follows the checklist above satisfies this and gives you a clear audit trail, so in practice it is essential.

How much can a holding deposit be?

A holding deposit is capped at one week’s rent. Calculate it as the annual rent divided by 52. For rent of £1,300 a month, the annual rent is £15,600 and the cap is £300. Rounding up beyond that figure breaches the cap.

When must I refund a holding deposit?

Within seven days of the relevant event: the tenancy being entered into, the deadline for agreement passing without an agreement, or you deciding not to proceed. The only times you may keep it are the four lawful grounds, failed right-to-rent check, false or misleading information, tenant withdrawal, or the tenant not taking all reasonable steps to enter the tenancy.

Can I keep the holding deposit if the tenant fails referencing?

Only in narrow circumstances. If the tenant gave false or misleading information that affected your decision, or failed a right-to-rent check you could not reasonably have anticipated, you may retain it. But a simple failure of an affordability or credit check that you could have foreseen does not automatically entitle you to keep the money, you must show the lawful ground applies.

Does the holding deposit count towards the first month’s rent?

It can, but only with the tenant’s written agreement. Many landlords apply it to the first rent payment or the tenancy deposit once the let proceeds. Record that consent, your receipt template should flag it as an option so there is no later dispute.

Did the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 change holding deposit rules?

No. The holding deposit cap, the 15-day deadline and the retention grounds all remain governed by the Tenant Fees Act 2019. The Renters’ Rights Act changed tenancy structure, rent increases via the current prescribed Section 13 form on GOV.UK, and possession, but it left the holding deposit framework intact.

Coming soon

Tenancy Pilot is launching soon. Our platform will let you issue a compliant holding deposit receipt, log the date received, and automatically track the 15-day deadline for agreement alongside your referencing and right-to-rent checks, so the refund clock never catches you out. It will sit within a wider toolkit covering document generation, rent collection, compliance tracking and a tenant portal. Join the waitlist to be first in when we go live.

Disclaimer: This article is general information for England as at June 2026 and is not legal advice. Holding deposit rules can change and individual circumstances vary. Always check the current position on GOV.UK and legislation.gov.uk, and consult a qualified solicitor before acting on anything in this guide.