Fund the gap between two housing deposits

Count the old deposit as unavailable until it is actually returned. The new landlord may need a deposit while the old landlord still holds yours. That is a cash gap even if both deposits are eventually refunded in full.

Keep three figures separate: available opening cash, deposits already held elsewhere, and the dated amount needed for the next payments. Adding a held deposit to opening cash and later adding its refund again counts the same money twice.

Use the housing-offer comparison for the cash and total cost of each new offer. Use the dated cash-flow planner for the period between paying, earning and receiving a refund.

This original fictional case uses EUR. It is a teaching calendar, not an example of actual rents, deposit law or payroll terms. The plan begins on 1 November 2026 with 6,500 available cash and a chosen protected reserve of 2,000. A separate old deposit of 1,400 is already held by the old landlord and is excluded from the opening balance.

The invented schedule assumes two new monthly rent payments of 1,200, an old-home rent payment of 900 during the overlap, a new refundable deposit of 1,800, moving costs of 700 and living spending of 450 in each month. The first confirmed income in the case is 2,600 on 15 December. For teaching the effect of a refund date, the first version places the old 1,400 refund on 25 November.

The lowest balance is 1,200 on 7 December. The plan avoids a negative balance, but falls 800 below the chosen 2,000 reserve. Adding 800 before the opening date would keep this particular schedule at or above that reserve.

The new 1,800 deposit remains held after the final row. The 3,800 ending balance excludes it. No borrowing, second income, deposit interest or later bills are automatically added. Extend the calendar with your actual later obligations before deciding how far it funds you.

Download the fictional editable cash-flow example

1. Save the JSON file to your device.
2. Open the dated planner, choose Reopen an editable plan, and select that file. Reading happens locally in your browser.
3. Calculate the plan. Check the 1,200 lowest balance, 3,800 ending balance and 800 reserve gap against the table.
4. Move the old-deposit refund from 25 November to 20 December and recalculate. The low balance changes even though the final total is unchanged.
5. Save your own changed file if useful. Keep the example labelled fictional and replace every amount and date before using it for your move.

You can also reproduce the calendar by entering the rows manually. Use opening balance 6,500 and the individual outflows shown above. Do not first subtract the 1,800 deposit from opening cash and then enter it again as an event.

With the full old-deposit refund delayed to 20 December, the balance remains 1,450 after 7 November. December rent takes it to 250, and December living spending takes it to −200 on 7 December. Income on 15 December restores it to 2,400; the later refund brings the final balance to the same 3,800.

The plan therefore needs 200 more before the cash shortfall to avoid a negative balance, or 2,200 more before the opening date to protect the 2,000 reserve throughout. The later 3,800 does not pay the earlier missed bill.

The partial-refund case changes both timing and final resources. The delayed-full-refund case changes timing but not the final total. When no amount or date is confirmed, keep a no-refund version as a separate stress scenario; do not describe it as a forecast that the landlord will retain the deposit.

In this case the refundable new deposit ties up 1,800. Old-home rent of 900 is an additional cost of the overlap, while new rent of 1,200 buys the new period. Their cash effects can occur on different dates.

Removing the old 900 rent would increase every later balance by 900: the base low would rise from 1,200 to 2,100, and the late-refund low from −200 to 700. That is useful sensitivity arithmetic, but only change the real plan after the old obligation actually ends or the landlord agrees a different payment. Moving out early does not itself prove rent is no longer due.

Paying a smaller deposit would free cash but would not necessarily reduce the stay's eventual cost. Paying less non-refundable setup or overlap rent changes cost as well as cash. The housing-offer method keeps these questions separate.

For example, GOV.UK's tenancy-deposit guidance ties its stated return period to agreement on the amount, and identifies separate schemes for Scotland and Northern Ireland. That is an illustration of why the trigger and jurisdiction matter, not a universal refund deadline or a rule applied to the fictional case.

1. Locate the first unfundable payment. In the delayed-refund case it is the 450 living-spending row on 7 December, which takes cash from 250 to −200.
2. Identify changes you can verify. Examples include more available savings, a different confirmed payment date, a lower actual non-refundable cost, or different housing terms.
3. Change the dated row, not just the ending total. A refund promised after 7 December cannot fill a shortfall before it arrives.
4. Run the no-refund or late-income version too. Keep it distinguishable from confirmed commitments and receipts.
5. Choose your reserve explicitly. Zero is the threshold for avoiding a negative balance. The reserve is an additional preference or requirement you set, not free spending money.

If a supplier's cheaper offer needs a larger or earlier deposit, compare its arrival cash as well as its total price. If conversion is needed, check the full transfer debit and delivery timing before marking the payment funded.

ExpatTools created the calendar and recalculated each scenario independently. The downloadable file was validated against the dated planner's version 1 format and its calculation. Same-day outflows are applied before same-day income, matching the planner. It uses calendar dates, not exact bank processing times.

The case includes only the stated events. The old deposit starts outside available cash, the new deposit appears once as an outflow, and each refund appears once as an inflow. A negative hypothetical balance flags an unfunded payment; it does not assume access to an overdraft.

Primary reference checked 7 October 2026: GOV.UK tenancy-deposit protection overview, used only to illustrate the importance of agreement and jurisdiction. For your own terms or legal dispute, use the authority, scheme or qualified adviser responsible. Send a calculation or source correction through website corrections.