PRS 360 Degrees Report
TPO can confirm the publication of a new report, written by Kate Faulkner, with the backing of The Property Ombudsman (TPO) and the industry.
Christopher Hamer, the Ombudsman, provided his expert opinion and guidance on some of the topics covered in the report, having seen thousands of issues that many landlords and tenants experience when a dispute arises in the private rental sector.
TPO’s latest figures concerning private rental sector disputes reveal the following:
TPO helps more than 10,000 landlords and tenants annually with lettings enquiries
Of these enquiries, the biggest issues relate to the following:
- Communication Failure 23%
- Duty of Care 17%
- Reports and Maintenance 9%
- Deposit 7%
- Rent 6%
- Complaints Handling 5%
- Check-in/Check-out/Inventory 5%
- Management Failure 3%
- Fees and Charges 3%
In terms of formal complaints, 1,300 enquiries resulted in formal complaints in 2013, which were made against registered letting agents which the Ombudsman independently reviewed (which was a 20% increase on the previous year).
79% of all tenant and landlord complaints were supported by the Ombudsman.
Tenants and landlords are strongly advised to always check if their letting agent is registered for free and independent redress with TPO, by using the scheme’s online ‘Find a member’ tool.
Source: These figures are based on TPO’s 2013 Annual Report.
TPO’s 2014 figures will be published in next month’s Annual Report.
Did you know?
- TPO is the UK’s largest government-approved property redress scheme
- TPO is the only not-for-profit redress organisation in its sector, which provides consumers with a free, fair and impartial dispute resolution service (and does not charge any ‘case fees’ to review complaints)
- TPO solely specialises in the property sector and has more than 24 years’ experience (the longest in its field)
- More than 30,000 agents are registered with TPO (covering sales, lettings, property buying, auctions, commercial and residential leasehold management services)
- More than 12,915 letting agents are now registered with TPO, which represents c85% of high street lettings agencies