There has been a significant increase in demand for The Property Ombudsman’s (TPO) free redress service, with more than 73,000 consumers seeking support with property-related issues in 2024, up 27% year-on-year, new figures show.
With consumer awareness of incoming legislative changes such as the Renters’ Rights Bill and leasehold reforms, TPO expects demand for the service will likely continue to grow.
Residential lettings was the most common sector for enquiries, with 13,516 consumers contacting us about issues such as repairs, deposits and poor complaint handling.
Some £1.49m was awarded to consumers in total, with 71% of cases formally investigated found in favour of the consumer, the service continues its impartial, fair and reasonable decision making.
Interim Property Ombudsman, Lesley Horton, said: “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.“
In residential sales, there was a high level of enquiries and disputes relating to seller issues with a total of £797,031 being awarded in sales cases, and the average award being £561. Factors like uncertain market conditions and the end of the stamp duty holiday in April could drive further complaints in 2025.
Within lettings, £511,583 was awarded to consumers in total, with 49% of complainants being renters and 47% being landlords. The total awarded to consumers in 2024 represents a 84% increase since 2015.
As long as the TPO and PRS continue to side predominantly with consumer complaints, they will only invite more of them. It’s become a joke how these schemes often favour the complainant, encouraging a culture of opportunistic ‘ambulance chasing.
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When focus for estate agency remains on competition and conformity, those with little integrity have the advantage and it appears they have been using it.
Consumers don’t complain when they trust an agency – fix that problem and you fix the industry.
Trust doesn’t arise from how well or why you do the work.
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“Consumers don’t complain when they trust an agency”
Not so, in my experience. Consumers complain when they don’t get their own way – often it has very little to do with trust or legality or right/wrong or even being reasonable.
Ultimately, our client is the landlord – there is usually a point at which landlord and tenants’ interests are opposed. That’s when the stuff hits the fan
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The key, in our experience, is to give consumers an offline channel to air their grievances. Using a moderated system such as HelpHound minimises one-star reviews and complaints to the ombudsman.
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When the market is buoyant the customer rarely complains. We have experienced a more “real” market over the last year or so when the increased need for expertise comes into play. We risk letting customers down with inexperienced and untrained staff. There is a lot of uncertainty a with the new DMCC – fines could be business crippling. Anyone who feels that the ombudsman is always wrong and agents always get it right may be a little out of touch.
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Answer? HelpHound. Encourages those with complaints to engage with the agency via one of their moderators. Result: far fewer one star reviews or ombudsman complaints.
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