Positive response to The Property Ombudsman Scheme

In a bid to stamp out rogue letting agents, The Property Ombudsman Scheme is pleased to announce that ten thousand letting agents have already joined the scheme.

According to Letting Agent Today, the new scheme reached this impressive number of members at the beginning of May. It is hoped more letting agents will follow suit as the year continues.

Chief operating officer Gerry Fitzjohn of The Property Ombudsman said: “We started 2013 with 9,750 lettings branches so are delighted to have passed the milestone of 10,000 letting branches in membership.

“TPO welcomes the housing minister Mark Prisk’s recent announcement that all lettings agents will be required to join a redress scheme such as TPO but we still have to work out the detail with the Government as to how this change will be implemented.

“Given that 10,000 letting branches are already voluntarily members of TPO, it is clear that we will be able to make a major contribution to those discussions.

“Those agents are signed up to our comprehensive code of practice, providing consumers with clear understanding of the service standards they can expect of TPO agents, who make up a majority of the industry.

“The code gives consumers confidence they will be treated fairly and that risk to them is reduced because there is a process for resolving disputes that may arise.”