The number of estate agencies expelled from Property Redress increased by a third to 76 last year, and awards made to complainants rose by 56% to £1.5 million, it has been revealed.

The Government-approved redress scheme has published the latest industry figures within its annual report covering its 20,000 member offices.

It also says that 50% of cases it dealt with were resolved through early resolution despite 20% rise in complaints.

Property Redress, which is one of the two organisation providing mandatory redress membership to the industry, also says membership numbers increased by 7% from 17,459 to 18,802 agents including 1,459 registered branches throughout the UK, covering over half the letting agents in the country.

Other highlights include:

• The average rate of complaints for each member remained at a little over 8% cent for the second year running, down from over 10% in 2022

• Complaints were completed, on average, in around 40 days from the time Property Redress received them. This is market leading for a dispute resolution provider and consistent with the previous two years

• The top three complaints for lettings were the same as the previous year: holding deposits, poor service and management, and tenancy payments and rent collection

• Early resolutions awarded a total of £194,878 in 2024, which is 45.8% less than the amount awarded in 2023 (£359,426) and 44.8% less than in 2022 (£353,053). An early resolution is a settlement made between the parties, meaning Property Redress does not have to make a formal decision

• 81% of consumers received the full amount they were owed.

Resolution times reduced

“Despite the increase in complainant volumes, the time to resolve matters has reduced, with a higher number of satisfactory outcomes,” says Sean Hooker, Head of Redress at Property Redress (main image).

“Our steadfast commitment to early resolution has proven effective, reflecting a shared willingness among parties to reach amicable solutions.

Tim Frome, Head of Government Schemes at Total Property, the group that includes Property Redress, adds: “2024 was a very busy year for us.

“Not only did we grow our membership by another 7% including adding some large corporate agents, we dealt with more complaints, achieved more early resolutions, awarded more compensation to consumers and also removed more members from the scheme for non-compliance.”

Read the annual report in full.