Landlords forced to join a new Ombudsman scheme when the Renters Rights Bill becomes law will become more concerned when they see the performance of the existing Property Ombudsman (TPO).
Under the Bill’s measures, becoming law shortly, all private landlords in England with assured or regulated tenancies will be required by law to join a Private Rented Sector Ombudsman, including those who use a managing agent.
There will be an annual fee for membership, and the Ombudsman system will be aligned with the new Private Rented Sector Database (another feature of the Bill) so landlords only have to submit their information once.
The new ombudsman will supposedly offer resolution when there are disputes, preventing them escalating to costly court proceedings. Issues to be resolved include any concerning pets being allowed in private lets.
But figures out this week from TPO – which handles only disputes with agents, not landlords – show lettings issues dominating the complaints.
TPO says there’s been a 27% increase in contacts on the previous year. There were 13,516 enquiries about lettings and 7,823 relating specifically to tenant issues such as repairs, deposits and poor complaint handling.
Within lettings, £511,583 was awarded to consumers. Of all complaints in this sector, some 49% were tenants and 47% were landlords.
The total compensation awarded to consumers across lettings and sales has risen 84% since 2015. In total, £1.49m was awarded to consumers in 2024, with 71% of formally investigated cases found in their favour.
The service resolved 4,980 cases via early resolution or formal investigation.
Lesley Horton, interim Property Ombudsman, says: “We are continuing to see increased demand for our service, especially in the private rented and leasehold sectors.
“Renters and leaseholders have often had problems for months, sometimes years, and access our service when previous attempts to resolve issues have failed. We see this reflected in the complexity of our casework, which is at historic highs.
“There is going to be continued change in the property sector, and we will work to support the success of any reforms, improve best practice in the sector and most importantly, help consumers to navigate and resolve their disputes.”
This article is taken from Landlord Today