Almost one year on from the introduction of Tenancy Deposit Schemes (TDS) and 40% of UK landlords are still unaware of TDS, leaving them at risk of committing a civil offence and being forced to pay tenants three times the deposit amount, according to the Money Centre.

A further 22% of respondents said they were aware but did not fully understand it, leaving only 38% confirming they were aware of the scheme and understood it. The TDS was introduced by the Government on 6 th April 2007 to protect tenancy deposits and provide a fairer system for settling disputes about the return of a deposit at the end of a tenancy.

Lynsey Sweales, marketing and PR director of The Money Centre, said: “The results of this research was extremely worrying. The scheme has now been in place for nearly a year, yet many landlords are still unaware of the legislation and its implications. The good news is more than half of those surveyed did believe the scheme would benefit both landlords and tenants, as it was designed to do. But until awareness, understanding and participation can be improved the scheme won’t be fully effective.”

The research was undertaken by independent research agency BDRC on behalf of a syndicate of buy-to-let mortgage lenders and brokers. Online interviews among 493 residential property investors were conducted in December 2007.