Three compulsory redress schemes have been approved by the government to offer independent investigation of complaints in the lettings sector, bringing it into line with the world of residential sales.
The schemes - The Property Ombudsman, Ombudsman Services Property and The Property Redress Scheme - will consider issues of hidden fees and poor service, and as with the sales system now where a complaint is upheld, tenants and leaseholders could receive compensation.
The majority of letting agents are already signed up with one of the three organisations but the remaining 3,000 agents - 40 per cent of the entire industry - will now be encouraged to join ahead of membership becoming mandatory later this year.
Two of the schemes have commented on the formal approval.
The Property Ombudsman experienced a 34.2 per cent increase in consumer enquiries relating to letting agents not registered with TPO during 2013, which really underlines the importance of mandatory redress says TPO Ombudsman Christopher Hamer.
Whilst my role as Ombudsman means that I am not a regulator and I can only review complaints after a dispute has occurred, making redress a legal requirement for lettings is a positive move. Clearly it would be better if complaints did not arise in the first place and robust legislation to enforce controls was in place says Hamer.
Ombudsman Services Property is perhaps less well known. Like TPO it operates on a not-for-profit basis; it already provides dispute resolution services for the energy, communications and copyright licensing sectors. It claims that it resolved 19,639 complaints across all of these sectors in 2012-13, with 90 per cent of them being settled within six weeks.
The government says the lettings redress schemes must follow the current sales model - it must be free for complainants to use, should be easy to access, and provide full data about complaints in their annual reports.
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Comments
We are getting out of lettings now market picked up..discusting business,, it used to be for crap agents who couldnt sell houses,,,i know why now,,lettings is a different industry,,thick landlords and tenants who talk to everyone like shit, think they live in a hotel not a property they should spend money to upkeep. Heres to rising rents!!