From 6 August 2018 Ombudsman Services will no longer provide a property redress service to agents. Ombudsman Services is one of the three redress schemes available to agents along with The Property Ombudsman and The Property Redress Scheme.
Do not be confused by articles in the media referring to The National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team (NTSEAT) targeting enforcement action after 6 August 2018. This is referring to ‘Estate Agents’. The Estate Agents (Redress Scheme) Order 2008 is empowered by the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007 and requires all estate agents to belong to a redress scheme.
The Redress Schemes for Lettings Agency and Property Management Work (Requirement to Belong to a Scheme etc) (England) Order 2014 is empowered by sections 83 and 84 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 and came into force on 1 October 2014, requiring all agents managing property in England to belong to a redress scheme. Should agents belonging to Ombudsman Services not have joined an alternative scheme by 6 August 2018 they will be in breach of the Order and risk being subject to enforcement action, the penalty of which can be up to £5,000.
The Government launched a consultation on 18 February 2018 entitled ‘Strengthening consumer redress in the housing market’, the conclusion and responses to the consultation are yet to be released. The consultation discussed the difficulties around having multiple redress schemes within the housing market, the option of one single redress scheme was put forward for debate.
Further details regarding the alternative schemes can be found below:
The Property Ombudsman https://www.tpos.co.uk/
The Property Redress Scheme https://www.theprs.co.uk/
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