The Property Ombudsman
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Latest property news
32% more complaints resolved by The Property Ombudsman in 2015
As several hundred agents gather for The Property Ombudsman’s second annual conference in Birmingham today, the TPO has revealed that the number of complaints it resolved during 2015 increased by 32% compared to the year before. TPO says this is mostly down to the high number of agents joining its scheme during 2015 after membership of one of the three schemes became mandatory following legislative changes in 2014. TPO is now the largest of the redress schemes with 35,374 member branches and, over the past five years, it has seen membership grow by 82%. Katrine says that during 2015 TPO received 16,265 enquiries from the public about sales and letting agents and resolved 3,304 complaints (up 32% on 2014) including 1,955 complaints about letting agents (up 33%) and 1,220 complaints about sales agents (up 27%). The largest number of complaints came from agents’ clients such as landlords and sellers and the most common complaints in lettings were about poor management, communication and record keeping, and end of tenancy issues. A majority of complaints about sales agents concerned communication and record keeping as well as marketing and advertising issues and terms of business disputes. “Overall, this is good news for consumers and…
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Features
Is the customer always right?
Redress schemes exist to safeguard consumer rights, but, says Joanne Christie, the agent is not, you’ll be pleased to hear, always in the wrong.
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Latest property news
Trading Standards backs TPO stance on portal juggling
The National Trading Standards Agency Estate Agency Team (NTSEAT) has waded into the issue of portal juggling with a resounding thumbs up for The Property Ombudsman’s imminent changes to its guidance. James Munro, who leads the NTSEAT, today said that he welcomed the TPO’s new guidance, which will be published on Saturday. It is likely to prevent TPO member agents from misleading consumers by removing and re-listing homes on property portals, enabling them to hide price cuts and make properties appear new to the market when they are not. Munro said he believes many agents do this to “manipulate sales figures” and that the new TPO guidelines could, he says, “lead to a ruling by the Ombudsman and also referral to enforcement agencies such as NTSEAT and local trading standards authorities”. “Such referrals could lead to prohibition orders or prosecution,” he added, and that “we will continue to work closely with industries bodies to stop this unfair practice, which misleads prospective homebuyers and harms honest estate agents who conduct their business in a fair and professional way.” One agent The Negotiator spoke to, who wished to remain anonymous, pointed out that although “unscrupulous”, it was a practice created in part…
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Features
Raising standards in the property industry
The Property Ombudsman is helping to raise standards in the property industry, says Katrine Sporle, The Property Ombudsman.
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Features
Right of way
Access to properties can cause serious issues if the right of way is not documented, says Katrine Sporle, The Property Ombudsman.
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Features
Performance fees
If an agent intends to charge a ‘performance fee’ it must be clear before he goes on stage, says Katrine Sporle, The Property Ombudsman.
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Features
Are redress schemes working?
The ‘regulation lite’ system brought in by the Government for sales and lettings agents got cheers all round in 2014. But does it still deliver? Nigel Lewis reports.
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Features
A buyer changes her mind, must she pay the buying agent’s fee?
A buyer changes her mind, must she pay the buying agent’s fee?
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Latest property news
The Property Ombudsman expels two Southampton agencies
Consumers are being warned by the UK’s largest property redress scheme about the actions of two lettings agents based in Southampton. Both agencies, trading as ‘The Flat Agency & Michael Browns Ltd’ and ‘Property Vibe Ltd’, were expelled from lettings redress membership of The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme for a minimum period of three years. Without registration these companies cannot legally trade as letting agents, and other redress schemes will not allow previously expelled agents to join. Landlords who lease their property with an agent that is not registered with TPO will not be entitled to have their dispute reviewed by the Ombudsman, and nor will any tenants renting through an unregistered agent. The decision to expel The Flat Agency & Michael Browns Ltd follows complaints made against it from local landlords and tenants. The complaints were independently reviewed by the Ombudsman and all were upheld. Cases against this agent were all similar in nature, relating to delay and/or failure in paying money owed to the complainants and several flagged serious concerns with the Ombudsman, who described the agents’ practices as “dishonest and deceitful”. The Ombudsman ordered payment of the money owed together with compensation. When the agent failed to…
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Features
Selling retirement property
Take great care when selling retirement property, to avoid accusations of neglect, says Katrine Sporle, The Property Ombudsman.
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