Close the deposit off in writing, with the figures shown

The tenancy is over, the checkout is agreed and the money is going back. This is the letter that says so, with the arithmetic printed rather than described. DocuTenant calls it the deposit return confirmation, which is the name to look for in the app; most landlords search for a deposit return letter, which is the same document.

What this letter is

A one-page confirmation, from you to the tenant, that the deposit or the balance of it has been returned and on what figures.

The header block carries the landlord and company, your email and phone, the tenant names, the property, the tenancy period from start to end, and the date. Then four short sections: the deposit details, the deductions, the amount returned, and the confirmations.

It is a record of a settled position. It does not decide anything and it does not bind the tenant to anything. Its job is to make sure that six months later there is a document saying exactly what happened, rather than a bank transfer nobody can explain.

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Five fields, and two of them are optional.

The amount being returned. The method, from bank transfer, cheque, a direct return by the scheme, cash, or something you type. The date the money went back. Then, if there were deductions, the total taken and a reference to the schedule that itemises them.

Everything else is already known: the original deposit, the scheme, the scheme type and the reference come from the tenancy record, and the tenancy dates come with them. Previewing is free and unlimited with no account and no card. £9 buys this document type at this property permanently, with free regeneration, and Pro is £9.99 a month or £89 a year.

When you need one

At the end of the tenancy, once the checkout is agreed. Not before. The letter is written in settled terms, and sending it while a figure is still being argued about is a promise you may have to take back.

The natural order is: checkout inspection against the schedule of condition, deductions agreed and itemised, money released, this letter sent. If the deductions are still being worked out, the guide to deposit deductions is the page for that part and this letter waits.

What the letter shows

The deposit details. The original deposit amount, the protection scheme, the scheme type where you hold it, and the scheme reference. Four lines that let the tenant match this letter to the protection paperwork they were given at the start.

The deductions. Where there are none, the letter simply says no deductions have been applied and the full deposit is being returned. Where there are, it states the total, names the schedule they are itemised in if you gave a reference, and then prints a three-line table: the original deposit, the total deductions, and the balance to return.

The amount returned. Printed large and on its own, with the return method and the return date underneath. This is the figure the tenant is looking for and the letter does not make them hunt for it.

The confirmations. Yours, that the deposit or the balance after agreed deductions has been returned as detailed, and that the return was processed in accordance with the applicable tenancy deposit protection legislation. Then the tenant's acknowledgement of receipt, with a signature space.

Returning it in full or in part

The same letter covers both, and the only thing that changes is whether you enter a deductions total.

In full. Leave the deductions total empty or at zero. The deductions section says no deductions have been applied and the full deposit is being returned, and the amount returned should equal the original deposit.

In part. Enter the total deductions and, ideally, the reference of the schedule that itemises them. The letter prints the original deposit, the deductions and the balance as a table, so the tenant can see how the figure was reached rather than being told it. Then enter the amount you actually returned.

One habit worth keeping: the amount returned is a field of its own rather than something the letter calculates from the other two. That is deliberate, because what actually left your account is the fact the letter is recording. Check it against the balance line before you send it.

England and Scotland

The letter works in both, and it is the same document. The deposit details section names whichever scheme holds the money, English or Scottish, from the tenancy record.

Nothing on this page is legal advice, and this letter does not settle a dispute or bind the tenant to accept anything. It records what was returned and when. See all 47 templates or what £9 per document type per property buys.

The same letter in England and in Scotland. The deposit details section names whichever approved scheme holds the money from the tenancy record, so an English deposit and a Scottish one produce the same document with different scheme details in it.

Send it after the checkout is agreed, not during. The letter is written in settled terms: this is what was held, this came off, this went back, on this date. It is not the document for proposing deductions or opening a negotiation.

It records a return; it does not settle a dispute. Nothing in the letter binds the tenant to accept the figures or removes any route they would otherwise have. What it does is make the position unambiguous and dated, which is useful to both sides and costs nothing.

Deductions belong in their own schedule. This letter carries the total and a reference to where the detail lives. The itemised breakdown, the evidence and the comparison against the schedule of condition are a separate exercise, and the guide to deposit deductions covers that ground.