Membership of the Property Ombudsman has increased by 14% since legislation making it compulsory for lettings agents to join redress schemes were introduced.

Since the rules came in on 1 October 2014, 85% of lettings agents have joined the TPO, giving the redress scheme 13,624 lettings branches out of a total of 34,469 branches that belong.

Katrine Sporle, Property Ombudsman, said: “TPO helps more the 16,000 consumers every year and the cases I see concerning lettings disputes are certainly on the rise as more people are renting than ever before. We applaud the Government for introducing legislation that helps us protect even more landlords and tenants from unfair practices.

“I hope the increase in membership we’ve seen means that the number of rogue agents operating illegally without redress registration is diminishing but they are still out there so it is imperative that consumers always check if their sales or lettings agent is signed up with TPO.”