The newest of the redress services for the lettings sector, The Property Redress Scheme, is claiming an increase in consumer complaints against lettings agents and property management firms as the right to redress becomes better known to the public.
Of the complaints raised so far, 44 per cent have been from landlords and 41 per cent from tenants. The rest have been from buyers and sellers of property, as the firm also operates a redress scheme for the sales sector.
The major causes of complaint have been claims of excessive fees (21 per cent), the non return of deposits (18 per cent) and perceived poor service or lack of communication (also 18 per cent).
Head of Redress at the Property Redress Scheme, Sean Hooker, says individual letting agents are also resolving complaints directly with their consumers when they are notified of the issue by his organisation.
Grounds for non-acceptance of complaints have included consumers that had not yet attempted to raise a formal complaint with their agent directly, and those involving on-going legal action.
It is great to see that consumers are becoming aware of their right to redress. The existence of the schemes means that Agents can no longer shirk their responsibility to address client dissatisfaction without being held to account says Hooker.
Property Redress Scheme is one of three consumer schemes authorised to provide fair and reasonable resolutions to disputes between members of the public and property agents.
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Comments
The South African lettings industry has found a solution to problems like these through PayProp. It covers all of this in a transparent, automated system for all stakeholders and with a full audit trail so there are never any questions that can't be answered. It safe guards the tenant, landlord and the agent - as false claims can't be made. As Matt Sweetman said in his comment, if we want the industry to raise standards, as most agents do, agents should investigate PayProp so that tenants and landlords are informed at all times and that all stakeholders are protected. PayProp is available in the UK now and agents can find out more at www.payprop.co.uk.
The major causes of complaint have been claims of
excessive fees (21 per cent). Define 'excessive fees' in each case
non return of deposits (18 per cent). Why were they not returned
perceived poor service or lack of communication (also 18 per cent). 'perceived'. Facts please
Answers to the above are needed to make any sense of these stats.
I am all for good practice but the problem with having redress schemes is that they make it too easy for a landlord or tenant to make trivial complaints. In my experience some tenants blatantly lie to embellish their complaint. We have even had claims made against us because we have had the audacity to ask the tenants to pay their rent on time!
The outcome of one of the PRS first complaints can now be viewed as a Case Study on the PRS website:
https://www.theprs.co.uk/Resource/AgentResource/16
It's great that awareness is growing about redress schemes. If we want the industry to raise standards, as most agents do, more needs to be done to inform tenants and landlords about how they are protected. Greater confidence in the industry is good for everyone.
Super news for the industry. I am all for this.