Property Redress Scheme Membership Up by 33%

Property Redress Scheme membership rose by 33% in the year from 2015 to 2016, shows its 2016 Annual Report.

The research also highlights a 40% increase in formal complaint notifications, which may be a result of the rise in members.

At the end of 2016, a total of 5,259 agent offices (31% sales and 79% lettings) had Property Redress Scheme membership, with a further 227 property professionals – such as inventory clerks – choosing to join the scheme to promote best practice within their organisations.

Total Property Redress Scheme membership currently stands at more than 7,000, with almost 700 UK Association of Letting Agents (UKALA) members now having access to Property Redress Scheme membership, following the announcement of a formal partnership in October 2016.

As well as growth in membership, the annual report also shows that the Property Redress Scheme has seen a 40% increase in formal complaint notifications. In the report, the Head of Redress at the organisation, Sean Hooker, acknowledges that this can be partly attributed to overall growth of the scheme, but he believes it also indicates an upward trend in consumer awareness of the complaint process.

The most common causes for complaints were property management (29%), deposits (27%) and problems with rent (15%). Service and fees both resulted in 6% of complaints. Tenants made the majority of complaints (51%), while 35% were made by landlords, 8% by leaseholders, 3% by buyers and just 1% by sellers.

The Property Redress Scheme awarded a total of £152,819 in compensation, with the average amount awarded being £375.27.

Hooker comments: “Although formal complaints have risen, so too has the number of complaints resolved at the early stages of our process. Around 40% of our cases are resolved at recommendation stage and 99% are dealt with in less than 90 days from receiving the initial complaint through to a decision.

“We continuously look at improvement and initiatives to increase the effectiveness and delivery of our service. We hope that the most recent introduction of our online complaint system will further reduce the average time to complaint resolution.”

Have you considered Property Redress Scheme membership?