This article was supplied by The Money Centre - the UK's leading buy to let mortgage broker .

More than one third of UK landlords are still unaware of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS), according to an independent survey commissioned by The Money Centre, one of the country's largest independent buy-to-let mortgage brokers.

The findings mean that many landlords could find themselves committing a civil offence and forced to pay a tenant three times the amount of the deposit as well as losing their automatic right to regain possession of the property at the end of a tenancy agreement.

The survey, conducted in August and September, found that 36% of landlords questioned were unaware of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, introduced by the Government on 6th 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. When it comes to investors with only one buy-to-let property, this figure was even higher, with 43% unaware of the scheme. A further 20% of respondents said they were aware of the scheme but did not fully understand it, leaving less than half (44%) who said they were aware of the scheme and understood it.

Lynsey Sweales, Marketing and PR Director of The Money Centre commented: "We are very worried by the results of this research which shows low awareness and understanding of the existence of this legislation and its implications, several months on from its introduction. This is bad news for both tenants and landlords as the scheme is designed to protect both."