According to the National Landlords Association (NLA), a large majority of landlords have yet to register with a government approved tenancy deposit scheme.

It is estimated that around 150,000 landlords have made the move to register with a scheme. Tenancy deposit protection, which has been in place for almost five months, applies to deposits taken under Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreements (ASTs) in England and Wales.

The NLA believes that some landlords previously using ASTs could now be choosing to use alternate tenancy agreements such as assured tenancies, in a move to avoid deposit protection.

David Salusbury, chairman of the NLA, said: “This could prove to be a risky strategy for landlords. Assured tenancies make it very difficult for landlords needing to recover possession of their property. For most landlords, avoiding the requirement to protect a deposit at the expense of compromising their ability to get the property back makes little business sense.”