Recommendation 27

Currently, letting agents are required to belong to one of two government-approved ombudsman schemes, the Property Redress Scheme or the Property Ombudsman, but membership for landlords is voluntary. The White Paper proposes the introduction of an ombudsman for all private landlords, regardless of whether they use an agent. The Government says a single scheme will mean a streamlined service for tenants and landlords and avoid the confusion and perverse incentives resulting from multiple schemes. On this basis, we do not understand why the Government is not proposing to replace the existing letting agent schemes with a single ombudsman covering all letting agents and landlords. A single ombudsman for the entire sector is the best way of avoiding the confusion the Government says it wants to avoid. We recommend that the Government introduce a single ombudsman for the whole of the private rented sector and that mediation be firmly embedded within its remit.