The newest redress scheme has had 2,540 agents join since it launched last summer, ahead of the legal deadline of October 1 by which all letting agents had to sign up to an ombudsman scheme.

The Property Redress Scheme has now had some 30 complaints raised with it, the majority in December and this month.

Of those raised so far, 44% were by landlords and 41% were by tenants, with the remaining 15% being raised by buyers and sellers.

The main three grievance have been about unfair or excessive fees, non-return of deposits, and poor service including lack of communications.

Grounds for non-acceptance of complaints have included cases where consumers had not attempted to raise a formal complaint with their agent but instead had gone direct to the PRS. Others were declined as the complaint involved ongoing court action.

The outcome of one of the PRS’ first complaints can now be viewed as a case study here. Note that the names are not the real ones.

* The editor of Eye would be interested to hear, in confidence, from agents who believe that others have not signed up to a redress scheme. We would also be interested to hear how Trading Standards are policing this legal requirement in your area.

Please email: ros@propertyindustryeye.com