A new voluntary redress scheme has been launched to help landlords and tenants solve disputes.
The scheme – by the National Residential Landlords Association in association with the Property Redress Scheme and The Dispute Service – allows participants to access a service aimed at offering a swift and effective early resolution of landlord/tenant disputes.
Tenants will be able to raise complaints to the scheme, whereby a case assessor will work to encourage early resolution of disputes or arrive at decisions to provide fair resolution to a wide range of tenancy issues.
The pilot will be administered by HF Resolution Ltd who run the Property Redress Scheme and the TDS Tenancy Redress Service over the course of the next 12 months.
This period will allow NRLA members the opportunity to opt-in – and the association is urging its members to participate.
This launch follows previous government announcements confirming that the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities will – at some unspecified date in the future – introduce legislation making it mandatory for private landlords to sign up to a redress scheme.
NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle says: “For some time we have stressed how important it is that an effective system of redress be established to resolve disputes between landlords and tenants.
“This pilot will give NRLA members the chance to demonstrate their commitment to excellent customer service and play a pivotal part in the development of a future, mandatory redress scheme in which both landlords and tenants can have confidence.”
Tim Frome, for the Property Redress Scheme, adds: “We have run a successful government authorised redress scheme for property agents since 2014 and our dedicated tenancy mediation service helps resolve mainly end of tenancy disputes during these difficult times.
“We worked closely with the NRLA to design the pilot and to ensure it is right for both landlords and tenants. Landlords using us for the pilot will benefit from our experienced and qualified team, who know the sector inside out.”
And Steve Harriott, chief executive of The Dispute Service, says the initiative is “a major step forward in offering redress to tenants of participating NRLA landlords”.
