Can I rent to a tenant without a holding deposit?

All landlords on the Basic, Essential or Complete plan must request a holding deposit of one week's rent. The holding deposit is part of the tenant application, and may be used to cover the costs of referencing checks if the tenant withdraws from application or fails referencing. 

Landlords not on a letting plan can accept tenant applications without requesting a holding deposit, but this is a risk. If the applicant fails the referencing or withdraws their application, you will have no holding deposit funds to cover these costs.  For instance, if you purchase referencing as a standalone product for £49.00 (inc VAT) and the tenant withdraws or fails, you will have no holding deposit to cover this and may have to pay for it again.