In the four months since Tenancy Deposit Protection became a mandatory requirement in the private rental market, it now safeguards the deposits of over 225,000 tenants, which are worth nearly £150m, according to the Tenancy Deposit Scheme.

Currently more than 125,000 landlords have joined the scheme, mostly through letting agents who are members of the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA), the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the National Approved Lettings Scheme (NALS).

However, a recent survey for the Tenancy Deposit Scheme showed that nearly a fifth of all landlords are still unaware of the mandatory nature of tenancy deposit protection. The scheme was implemented in April, meaning there is less than two months to go before a likely increase in the number of disputes requiring Alternative Dispute Resolution (how parties settle civil disputes without the need for a formal court hearing), as six months is the initial length of a tenancy agreement.

Lawrence Greenberg, chief executive of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, said: “There is still too much complacency about mandatory deposit protection in the rental market. As a result, some landlords, and even their agents, could be in for a rude shock as tenancies come to an end. Worse, it also means that there are too many tenants who are unsecured, which is disappointing.”