Landlords 'embrace TDS'

More and more landlords seem to be embracing new the new tenancy deposit scheme (TDS), a report suggests.

In April it became mandatory for all landlords and letting agents to put all deposits for assured shorthold tenancies into a tenancy deposit protection scheme.

Initially, it was reported that around half the landlords in the UK were unaware of the new legislation and so breaking the law by not acting to guard their tenants' deposits.

However, one of the operators of one of these schemes, Tenancy Deposit Solutions Limited (TDSL), has now reported that thousands of landlords have signed up and are complying with the new TDS regulation.

"At first it looked as if many landlords could have missed the new legislation. This might have been partly because the government's campaign to publicise the changes in the law appeared to taper off sooner than we expected," explained the company's chairman, David Salusbury.

"But now the message seems to be gettingthrough. May and early June has seen a groundswell of activity from both landlords and letting agents as deposits taken in respect of new tenancies are protected."

Mr Salusbury added that landlords who have not complied with the TDS rules should do so as soon as possible, because "the penalties for non-compliance are heavy".