The new property ombudsman will be faced with a backlog when she takes up her role.

Katrine Sporle starts at The Property Ombudsman scheme on November 1 – becoming ombudsman that same day.

Speaking to EYE yesterday, she said: “There will be only one ombudsman and although Christopher Hamer will still be there until the end of the month, his role will become one of advice and back-up.”

Sporle says that she cannot wait to begin the job that Hamer has held for the last nine years, during which time he has built the scheme up with considerable success.

She said: “My priority is to meet each member of staff individually and to get to know what their concerns are and therefore what my concerns should be.

“I am very clear that Christopher Hamer has done a great job.

“However, I am equally clear there is a backlog of cases, after a huge increase in the workload.”

She says it is highly likely that she will recruit extra staff quickly but that her overall aim is to consolidate the organisation into a streamlined service.

She says it must be a scheme “that is absolutely fit for purpose”.

Sporle was drawn to the job of ombudsman because she likes the fact that it is free, fair and independent.

“But as well as being free, fair and independent, it should also be efficient and effective,” she said.

Tomorrow, Sporle is due to make her first appearance in the industry, attending the first TPO conference with Hamer, being held at Coventry.

Now in her sixties, Sporle is currently finishing a role at Salisbury Cathedral.

She said: “I can proudly say that I am the first female chapter clerk in 750 years.

“It had nothing to do with vocation – I came to do some interim management and found myself staying to see the Magna Carta celebrations through, to make progress on the master plan, to build the first new build next to the Cathedral ever, and to fund-raise for the major repair programme.”

Before joining the cathedral, she was head of the Planning Inspectorate for England and Wales, and before that, chief executive at Basingstoke and Deane Council.

She says she has no plans to retire, saying she is someone who needs a challenge, and that she enjoys working with a broad spectrum of people.

“I currently work with people from their 20s to their 70s, and I like the idea of being able to tap into experience while bringing new talent on,” she said.

“With the ombudsman role, though, I do feel that maturity is an asset.”

She heard of the job when she was approached about it, although denies that she was actually head-hunted.

She does say that the fact that TPO is in Salisbury – her home is in a village a short distance away – was a clinching factor. Her previous job was in Bristol and she would not have wanted another long commute.

Her CV is extraordinarily impressive and she comes over well in interview. As a woman, did she ever feel she had a glass ceiling to break through? “Yes! In the 80s – but it wasn’t about gender, it was about experience.

“I switched from the public to the private sector for a four-year stint and never looked back.”

Her dealings with estate agents have been few and far between, but entirely satisfactory.

“I sold a flat in London about 20 years ago, and we recently had our house on the market but decided to withdraw.

“In both cases I had excellent service from the estate agents involved.”

Ah, but sellers who change their minds aren’t always the most popular with agents.

She insists they weren’t the villains of the piece. Indeed, there were no villains. “The house that we wanted to buy was taken from under our noses by a cash buyer,” she said. “We couldn’t blame the sellers – they had already shown great patience.”

Married – her husband, who is now retired, had a successful career in planning at Westminster City Council – and with a son, Sporle’s hobbies include a West Highland terrier puppy, travelling and photography.

She also says she spends more time in the garden than in the house.

However, it seems doubtful that the garden will be getting too much of her attention.

She emphasised: “My challenges will be first to build on Christopher’s work, and second to see exactly how we do that.”