Government starts consultation on single housing ombudsman for whole sector

The government is to introduce a single ombudsman to cover the whole of the property industry including for the first time both new homes and rented property, and has announced a consultation. There are currently four different complaints bodies in housing and not all those operating within the industry must join them, a ‘gap’ that the government says it wants to close. The private treaty and lettings sectors have three ombudsman – although one of the recently said it was withdrawing from the market – plus there’s an additional ombudsman for the social housing sector. But private landlords are not currently compelled by law to join a redress scheme or be accountable to an ombudsman. Eight weeks The proposed initiative kicks off with an eight-week consultation which the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) says will help “shape a simpler and better complaints system” and that in future disputes will be “resolved faster” and homebuyers and tenants will be able to access compensation. The MHCLG consultation will look at various aspects of the property market including whether or not  a ‘whole industry’ ombudsman is really needed, but also look at whether builders should be included in the scheme; how…