Letting Agent Redress Schemes
Introduction
From 1 October 2014 letting and managing agents are required to be a member of a redress scheme. The purpose of these schemes is to deal with complaints made by tenants and landlords about agents. Essentially these are Ombudsman Schemes.
This gives both landlords and tenants the right to independent redress if their agent cannot resolve a complaint to their satisfaction.
This means that anyone who feels they get a poor deal from their letting agent will be able to take their complaint to a redress scheme.
Which schemes are available?
Anyone required to be must be a member of one of two schemes:
A third ombudsman scheme, Ombudsman Services Property, did exist until August 6 2018. Agents who were a member of this scheme must sign up to one of the other two schemes if they have not done so already.
How do I find out which scheme my agent belongs to?
Normally the agent will display this information prominently in their offices or on their website. However, both schemes have publically available member lists that allow a landlord or tenant to check the agent is complying with this requirement.