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KEYWORD "The Property Ombudsman" - 100 RESULTS
Prospective tenants lose millions through rental scams

Consumer organisation Which? claims there are some 1,000 reports of rental fraud scams a month at this time of year. It says...

20 August 2024

From: Breaking News

Shock rise in compensation paid by letting agents last year

The Property Ombudsman received a record number of enquiries with 57,635 people seeking support with their property and housing related issues...

10 June 2024

From: Breaking News

Propertymark guide helps tenants complain and challenge rent rises

A new guide from Propertymark explains the rights which private rental tenants have - and sets out how they can challenge...

23 April 2024

From: Breaking News

Regulation of Property Agents - government slammed by Lords

The government’s failure to act on the Regulation of Property Agents (RoPA) working party - chaired by Lord Richard Best and...

22 April 2024

From: Breaking News

Expelled! Agency kicked out by Ombudsman for just £1,100

A lettings agency has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme following itsfailure to pay £1,100 out of an adjudicated award...

26 March 2024

From: Breaking News

Gove accused of dragging his feet over agent regulation

The all-party House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee has urged the government to get on with establishing a regulator of...

22 March 2024

From: Breaking News

Is the government deliberately delaying the Renters Reform Bill?

The long-awaited Third Reading of the controversial Renters Reform Bill will not happen this week according to the Leader of the...

29 January 2024

From: Breaking News

Agents List Radical Changes needed to Renters Reform Bill

Propertymark's latest research report suggests some letting agents want radical changes to the Renters Reform Bill now going through Parliament.  The aim...

25 January 2024

From: Breaking News

Agency failed to return vacant possession of rental property to landlord

A London lettings agency has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman for not paying compensation to a landlord following a failure...

14 December 2023

From: Breaking News

Agents list major problems with Renters Reform Bill

Propertymark has set out its pro-agency position on a range of issues contained in the Renters Reform Bill, currently trundling through...

07 December 2023

From: Breaking News

Scams expert joins board of The Property Ombudsman

The Head of the National Trading Standards Scams Team is one of two new non-executive directors at The Property Ombudsman. Louise Baxter...

12 September 2023

From: Breaking News

Rogue agency expelled from Ombudsman but still trading illegally

A rogue lettings agency in London has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme but is still thought to be trading. Hawks...

10 August 2023

From: Breaking News

Renters Reform Bill - Online course explains what it means

PropTech platform Goodlord has launched a one hour online course explaining the controversial Renters Reform Bill. The aim is to equip letting...

04 August 2023

From: Breaking News

Not Good Enough! Property Ombudsman criticises private rental quality

New figures released this morning from The Property Ombudsman show that the overwhelming number of disputes in the past year involved...

03 August 2023

From: Breaking News

Kicked Out! Redress scheme expels five rogue agencies

The Property Redress Scheme has released its latest list of expelled agents - mostly for rental misdemeanours and/or failure to pay...

24 July 2023

From: Breaking News

Pets and Kids Not Welcome? New analysis of rental listings

Thousands of listing for rental properties on two popular websites explicitly say children or pets are not welcome. A BBC analysis of...

05 July 2023

From: Breaking News

Expelled! Rogue agents expelled from Property Redress Scheme

The Property Redress Scheme, one of two government-approved redress services, has produced a list of recently-expelled agencies. All agencies must be a...

26 April 2023

From: Breaking News

String of dodgy letting agents expelled by Ombudsman

Several lettings agents have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme; they are amongst eight named as having been kicked out...

06 April 2023

From: Breaking News

Ombudsman rules on tenants with children discrimination case

The Property Ombudsman has ruled that a letting agency’s ban on renting to a family with children was discriminatory against women...

23 March 2023

From: Breaking News

Six agencies expelled by The Property Ombudsman

It’s been revealed that agents have been kicked out of The Property Ombudsman in recent months for failing to pay compensatory...

27 January 2023

From: Breaking News

Banks are closing their doors to Letting Agents

UK banks are closing client accounts held by established letting agents and refusing to open accounts for new businesses. The Problem A growing...

19 December 2022

From: Sponsored Content

Media accuse agents of mis-selling deposit alternative schemes

The Observer newspaper has investigated the way letting agents apply so-called zero deposit schemes - and claims that in some cases...

05 December 2022

From: Breaking News

Big rise in lettings enquiries to The Property Ombudsman

The Property Ombudsman has reported a big rise in enquiries over last year and a huge rise since the pre-Covid year,...

02 November 2022

From: Breaking News

Civil servants and Trading Standards to brief agents on law change

Officials from the Welsh Government and the head of the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agent team are to address...

21 October 2022

From: Breaking News

Named, Shamed, Expelled - rogue agents thrown out by Ombudsman

Five agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme - all for compliance failures. The first is Home Trader Properties, in...

04 October 2022

From: Breaking News

Belvoir branch amongst raft of agencies kicked out of The Property Ombudsman

Six agencies have been excluded from The Property Ombudsman for failing to pay compensation to wronged complainants. One was the Belvoir...

13 July 2022

From: Breaking News

Beefed Up Property Details - industry bosses back call for Material Information

Senior figures in the agency industry have backed new guidance from the National Trading Standards Estate and Lettings Agent Team regarding...

13 July 2022

From: Breaking News

Rent Controls - body discussing implementation recruits top agency figure

A Parliamentary group currently investigating the possible implementation of rent controls is to be joined by a senior figure from Propertymark. The...

07 June 2022

From: Breaking News

Property Fraud - Agents have key role to deter crime

An hour-long webinar this week aims to inform agents how to deter property fraud by greater emphasis on compliance, due diligence...

24 January 2022

From: Breaking News

Expelled by Ombudsman - rogue agents who refuse to pay compensation

Two agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme for failing to pay compensation awards. Thamlet Estates, based in east London,...

20 January 2022

From: Breaking News

Agency employee admits “no lawful basis” for using tenant’s data

A member of staff at a Connells-owned branch has been quoted as saying the agency had “no lawful basis” for passing...

14 January 2022

From: Breaking News

Agency pays thousands for breaching Tenant Fees Act

A London-focussed lettings agency group has paid £2,000 as a result of breaching the Tenant Fees Act. The issue relates to the...

23 December 2021

From: Breaking News

Agents Beware: ‘information checklist’ to avoid potential fines and claims

A checklist for agents to help ensure they steer clear of unwanted fines or claims has been provided by the Guild...

20 October 2021

From: Breaking News

Expelled! Rogue letting agents kicked out by The Property Ombudsman

Six agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman for failing to pay compensatory awards - five of them for offences...

11 October 2021

From: Breaking News

Lettings agent jailed after £182,000 fraud

A lettings agent has been jailed for three years for defrauding tenants and landlords out of more than £182,000.  Lee Clarke, 42,...

20 September 2021

From: Breaking News

Ombudsman complaints led by management, comms and record keeping

Lettings once again dominated the complaints received by The Property Ombudsman according to its latest annual report - out today but...

24 August 2021

From: Breaking News

Have Your Say: Ombudsman wants agents’ views on block management

The Property Ombudsman and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors are seeking views of agents, landlords and tenants on a new...

13 August 2021

From: Breaking News

New call for letting agents to be trained, qualified and licensed

The Association of Residential Letting Agents' wing of Propertymark says the recent expulsion of three agents from The Property Ombudsman demonstrates the...

04 May 2021

From: Breaking News

Yet another agent ejected by Ombudsman may be trading illegally

Another lettings agency has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme for failing to pay an outstanding compensation award - but...

16 April 2021

From: Breaking News

Rogue agency may be trading under new name via Facebook, says Ombudsman

A lettings agency that failed to pay a compensation award ordered by The Property Ombudsman has been expelled from the scheme...

15 April 2021

From: Breaking News

Agency that failed to pay £300 compensation kicked out of Ombudsman

A lettings agent in Slough, called Saville Park Ltd, has been excluded from The Property Ombudsman for failing to pay an outstanding award of £300.  TPO received a complaint from tenants...

15 April 2021

From: Breaking News

New property ID system aims to identify rogue buy to lets

A new property identification system which has won the backing of ARLA Propertymark and substantial parts of the industry has said...

15 January 2021

From: Breaking News

Overwhelming number of agents pay TPO compensation awards

An overwhelming 98 per cent of agents who are members of The Property Ombudsman scheme pay compensation when an investigation is...

01 December 2020

From: Breaking News

Agency accused of over-charging and using fake repair accounts

A newspaper claims a lettings agency is battling allegations of overcharging customers and using fake companies to carry out maintenance work. The Daily Record...

30 November 2020

From: Breaking News

Another 12 months to make referral fees more transparent

Agents have another 12 months to make referral fees more transparent according to an update from the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting...

19 November 2020

From: Breaking News

Expelled! Agents thrown out by Ombudsman over award payments

Three agents have been expelled by The Property Ombudsman for failing to pay compensation awards.  In the case of Foremost Lettings Ltd...

26 August 2020

From: Breaking News

Next week’s Ombudsman conference webinar - registration opens

Registration is open for The Property Ombudsman’s annual conference, being held as a webinar later this month. The event can be watched...

10 June 2020

From: Breaking News

Big surge in complaints about letting agents taken up by Ombudsman

There’s been a substantial 20 per cent rise in formal complaints about agents taken up by The Property Ombudsman.  The figures refer...

11 May 2020

From: Breaking News

Six lettings agencies expelled from TPO for not paying awards

The Property Ombudsman has announced the expulsion of eight agencies, all for contravening TPO codes of practice. Most of the expulsions were...

04 May 2020

From: Breaking News

Tenant Engagement

There is no doubt that the BBC News article in early February caused something of a stir within the Deposit Free...

12 March 2020

From: Sponsored Content

Agents warned by Ombudsman: Don’t discriminate on DSS claimants

The Property Ombudsman is warning agents not to discriminate against tenants through a No DSS or any similar policy. Following the legal...

05 March 2020

From: Breaking News

Referral Fee clampdown confirmed for lettings agents too

The clampdown on referral fees, until now concentrated on the sales sector, will extend to letting agents too. James Munro, head of...

28 February 2020

From: Breaking News

Five agents kicked out of Ombudsman scheme after disputes

The Property Ombudsman has expelled five agencies, mostly for failures to honour awards: four of them are lettings operations and one...

21 February 2020

From: Breaking News

Fees Act confusion could trigger surge in complaints about agents

Confusion among renters over the complex Tenant Fees Act could trigger a surge in complaints about agents to redress schemes -...

12 February 2020

From: Breaking News

BBC asks: Do letting agents mis-sell deposit alternative schemes?

A BBC investigation suggests some agents may be mis-selling deposit alternative schemes. Tenants are then hit by what the probe says are...

10 February 2020

From: Breaking News

Clampdown on lettings agents triggered by MPs’ own experiences - claim

A prominent member of the House of Lords has given a surprising insight into how the fiscal and regulatory clampdown on...

30 January 2020

From: Breaking News

Over 200 complaints of agents allegedly charging illegal fees

The Times claims there have been well over 200 complaints lodged with redress schemes, alleging that lettings agents tried to charge...

23 December 2019

From: Breaking News

Lettings agency boss jailed for £230,000 fraud scandal

A Southampton lettings agency owner has been jailed after defrauding landlords and tenants out of £230,000. Andrew Whitehead has been jailed for...

19 December 2019

From: Breaking News

Three rogue lettings agencies expelled by The Property Ombudsman

Three lettings agencies have been expelled from TPO - in each case the agency failed to honour a payment as instructed...

13 December 2019

From: Breaking News

Fees Ban, Licensing and HMOs: many agents fear they’re breaking the law

Just over a fifth of lettings agents questioned in a major industry survey are concerned that may not be complying with...

15 November 2019

From: Breaking News

Three rogue lettings agents expelled by The Property Ombudsman

The Property Ombudsman has expelled three lettings agencies from its scheme because of unpaid awards to landlord clients. The first is Kingsman...

24 October 2019

From: Breaking News

Rogue agents expelled by TPO for failing to pay compensation awards

Two London agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme for failing to honour two compensation awards. The first is Chase...

19 September 2019

From: Breaking News

Expelled! Six lettings agencies kicked out by Ombudsman

The Property Ombudsman has announced a slew of expulsions after six agents failed to comply with redress rules. They failed to abide...

12 August 2019

From: Breaking News

Government slated by Tory MP and agency chief over Sections 21 and 24

The chairman of Hunters estate agency, who is also a Conservative MP, has hit out at the government over its handling...

12 July 2019

From: Breaking News

Agents can cut complaints by adopting more PropTech, says guru

Letting agencies can reduce the number of complaints about the industry and improve their own customer service and relationships by improving...

26 June 2019

From: Breaking News

Expelled! Seven rogue letting agents kicked out of Ombudsman scheme

Seven agencies have been expelled from membership of The Property Ombudsman after failing to pay compensation awards made by TPO. All are...

03 June 2019

From: Breaking News

Redress scheme makes £25,000 award after “failings” by lettings agent

The Property Redress Scheme, one of the two government-backed redress operators for the lettings and sales service, has outlined its work...

23 May 2019

From: Breaking News

Agent fined for having only 'limited' redress cover through TPO

The Property Ombudsman has issued a reminder to all agents to ensure they have the correct redress membership to cover the...

23 May 2019

From: Breaking News

Agents made to pay record sum to consumers in 2018, says Ombudsman

The Property Ombudsman (TPO) has released its annual report for 2018, showing that for the first time the value of awards...

08 May 2019

From: Breaking News

Inventories ‘could be integral part of rental redress reform’ claim

Independent inventory reporting is the perfect complement to the government’s proposed housing reforms. That’s the view of the UK’s largest provider of...

08 March 2019

From: Breaking News

Redress scheme wants landlords to join now 'on a voluntary basis'

One of the existing two government-authorised redress schemes governing estate and letting agents has called on landlords to voluntarily join, ahead...

06 February 2019

From: Breaking News

Agents advertising weekly rent should show traditional ‘pcm’ figure too

The Property Ombudsman says agents can display weekly rents for homes they market - but they should be displayed alongside monthly...

29 January 2019

From: Breaking News

Mystery over missing agent being probed by trading standards

Mystery surrounds the whereabouts of a letting agent who appears not to be in any redress scheme, is being investigated by...

14 January 2019

From: Breaking News

Expelled! Two agencies kicked out of TPO for failing to pay awards

Two lettings agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme for failing to pay awards. One is OJ Residentials Limited trading...

05 November 2018

From: Breaking News

More lettings agencies expelled by TPO for unpaid awards

Two more lettings agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman as a result of unpaid awards following disputes involving landlords...

21 September 2018

From: Breaking News

Agency expelled by TPO after 100 complaints, owing £419k in awards

An agency has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman after receiving over 100 separate complaints, and failing to pay over £419,000...

20 September 2018

From: Breaking News

CPRs; the opportunity

In our previous 2 blogs we have covered the definitions of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (CPRs) and what...

29 August 2018

From: Sponsored Content

CPRs; the practicalities

In our previous blog, we looked at the definitions outlined by the CPRs. In our next blog we’ll look at the...

29 August 2018

From: Sponsored Content

Client Money Protection scheme launched by Propertymark

Propertymark has launched a new Client Money Protection system, Money Shield, with a support statement from much of the lettings sector...

23 August 2018

From: Breaking News

Kicked out: two lettings agencies expelled by The Property Ombudsman

Two lettings agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme. The first is Bower & Bower (B&B), a sales and lettings...

22 June 2018

From: Breaking News

Missing letting agent - a Church is amongst those owed money

It’s been revealed that a church is amongst those owed thousands of pounds by a letting agent who has gone to...

21 June 2018

From: Breaking News

Agency closes, boss disappears, and thousands owed to clients

A regional newspaper claims that a lettings agency has collapsed, its boss has gone to ground, and thousands of pounds are...

18 June 2018

From: Breaking News

Call for agents to use PropTech to help clean up their act

A leading PropTech entrepreneur has renewed his call for letting agents to use more technology to clean up their act when...

05 June 2018

From: Breaking News

Getting worse: complaints to TPO about letting agents soar 11%

The Property Ombudsman has issued its annual report for 2017 and it makes grim reading for the rental sector - there’s...

17 May 2018

From: Breaking News

Confirmed - mandatory Client Money Protection for all agents from next April

The government has confirmed that all property agents in England will need to be part of an approved Client Money Protection...

04 May 2018

From: Breaking News

Another redress scheme runs a special offer - this time for agents in NALS

The scramble for members amongst rival redress systems continues apace. Earlier this week The Property Ombudsman announced it was to waive joining...

25 April 2018

From: Breaking News

More industry backing for government's crackdown on agents

The Property Ombudsman is the latest property industry player to throw its support behind the introduction of mandatory qualifications and a...

04 April 2018

From: Breaking News

Property Ombudsman expels lettings agencies over payments issues

The Property Ombudsman has released details of two letting agencies expelled over financial issues, and the extension of an expulsion period...

26 March 2018

From: Breaking News

Veteran agent joins Proptech firm behind lettings scheduling tool

The veteran estate agent Michael Stoop has become a non-executive director of Sorbet, a PropTech company which has created a software...

06 February 2018

From: Breaking News

Agencies expelled from Ombudsman scheme for non-payment of rents

The Property Ombudsman scheme has today announced three expulsions of agencies as a result of non-payment of rent or awards. Firstly, a...

10 January 2018

From: Breaking News

Ombudsman launches latest phase of clampdown on rogue lettings agents

The Property Ombudsman scheme has launched the third and latest phase of its national campaign with the Chartered Trading Standards Institute...

14 November 2017

From: Breaking News

Agency probed by Trading Standards after complaints by tenants

A London letting agency with connections to Westminster council is now being investigated by the same council’s trading standards department. CityWest Homes...

16 October 2017

From: Breaking News

TPO extends rogue letting agency's ban by four years

The Property Ombudsman scheme (TPO) has extended its expulsion of a letting agency by an additional four years. Premier Property Management, based...

05 September 2017

From: Breaking News

TPO expels agency failing to honour compensation to landlord

The Property Ombudsman has expelled a London lettings and estate agency after it failed to honour a compensation payment to a...

24 August 2017

From: Breaking News

Tech firm says agents could reduce complaints - by using more tech

A PropTech firm claims more effective use of technology and automation by letting agents could reduce the number of complaints made...

03 August 2017

From: Breaking News

New referencing product aims to avoid problem highlighted by TPO

The software company behind a new product claim it helps agents comply with The Property Ombudsman’s code of practice on referencing...

26 June 2017

From: Breaking News

TPO makes year's biggest compensation award against letting agent

The annual report of The Property Ombudsman, released today, reveals that the largest compensation award of the year has been made...

22 June 2017

From: Breaking News

TPO expels two letting agencies after complex investigations

Two lettings agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman redress scheme.   As we reported when the story broke yesterday afternoon, one...

18 May 2017

From: Breaking News

Two letting agencies expelled from The Property Ombudsman redress scheme

Two lettings agencies have this afternoon been expelled from The Property Ombudsman redress scheme. In one case, TPO expelled Lettings Solutions Ltd...

17 May 2017

From: Breaking News

Agents beware: new campaign to catch those ignoring law on fees

The Property Ombudsman and the Chartered Trading Standards Institute have announced a second phase of their campaign to tackle letting agents...

28 March 2017

From: Breaking News

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