Home owners are resorting to renting their properties instead of selling them as the housing market slump continues, LV Home Insurance has said. LV – formerly Liverpool Victoria – said that its findings revealed a 56% increase over the last three months of properties available to rent. The research also showed that 86% of these properties originated from home owners opting to let their home, rather than attempt to put it on the market. But these “reluctant landlords” were playing a risky game, LV warned, as just 27% had joined a tenancy deposit scheme (TDS) which protects tenants and landlords from disputes over the lease of the property. Not signing up to a TDS could cause problems at the end of a tenancy, LV explained. LV’s research apparently highlights some of the possible outcomes, with 77% of those renting saying that they had previously had some or all of their deposit money “unreasonably withheld.” Meanwhile, 13% had refused to pay rent near the end of their contract. <br>