Most landlords 'are trying to dodge TDS'
Published: 31-Aug-2007
More than three-quarters of landlords in the UK are yet to register for tenancy deposit protection, an industry body has warned.
The National Landlords Association (NLA) has revealed that just 150,000 landlords has so far register with a scheme, despite the fact that legislation has now been in place for over five months.
Tenancy deposit protection should apply to all deposits taken under Assured Short-hold Tenancy Agreements (ASTs) in England and Wales after April 6th 2007 and the NLA said that the poor uptake of the scheme was a cause for concern.
Indeed, the NLA now believes that landlords who previously used ASTs could now be opting for alternative tenancy agreements to avoid deposit protection.
"This could prove to be a risky strategy for landlords. Assured tenancies, as distinct from assured short-hold tenancies, make it very difficult for landlords needing to recover possession of their property," warned David Salusbury, chairman of the NLA.
"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."
The NLA added that the penalties for not complying with the new law were severe and could see landlords being ordered to pay hefty fines.
Recently, Adrian Thompson, director of the Guild of Residential Landlords, confirmed that around 80 per cent of residential landlords were now not taking a deposit in order to avoid the scheme.
