Landlords Claim to Have Quality Tenants, Tenancy Deposit Scheme Survey Finds

LONDON, December 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Nine out of 10 landlords are either satisfied or very satisfied with the quality of their tenants, according to a new survey carried out by the Tenancy Deposit Scheme this month.

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View the survey here:

http://www.multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/prne/prnewswire/TDS-LandlordIndustrySurvey.pdf

More than half of these landlords, 53%, were satisfied with the quality of their tenants, while more than a third, 34.7%, were very satisfied. The quality measures included paying the rent on time, looking after the property and general cooperation on other issues. The great majority of landlords felt that the satisfactory quality of their tenants' behaviour was constant and a further 20% even thought it was increasing.  Only 14% thought the quality was decreasing.

Asked about their concerns, landlords said that complying with regulations ranked as high as worrying about rent arrears at 71% each. Less than half said that they had concerns over housing benefit issues. Over half of all landlords said that they had no concerns over housing benefit issues.

Of the landlords responding, 40% have been landlords for more than 10 years and a further 40% had between two and 10 years' experience. Over 70% were either investment landlords or letting for personal financial security. Only 13.6% were accidental landlords, letting their property because they are unable to sell or because of an inheritance. 12% have made a career of being a landlord.

The Tenancy Deposit Scheme, which was set up in 2004, and is the longest established deposit protection scheme, found that half of all landlords believe mandatory deposit protection to be beneficial to the private rented sector. Under a third thought it a hindrance, while 20% had no opinion.

A substantial number of respondents, 41%, also believed the concept of free Alternative Dispute Resolution used to settle tenancy deposit disputes could be useful for resolving other housing issues.

Commented Steve Harriott, Chief Executive of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, "These findings from our first national survey of landlords show a positive picture of landlord and tenant relations that is very welcome. It augurs well for the private rented sector."

The survey was conducted among over 200 landlords who have their tenancies registered with the Tenancy Deposit Scheme. The Scheme currently protects over 900,000 tenancies.

Editors Note: The full survey can be found in the news section of the TDS website, http://www.tds.gb.com.

Media contact Malcolm Harrison +44(0)20-7581-8335