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Landlords invited to join redress scheme governing body

Landlords are being invited to join the advisory council of the country’s largest lettings redress scheme.

The Property Redress Scheme covers more than 13,250 letting agency branches and is the government’s nominated official redress service, alongside the Property Ombudsman scheme. 

All estate agents, lettings agents and property managers in England and Wales must become members of one or otherscheme with the fine for non-participation up to £5,000.  The Government’s intention in prescribing the legislation specifying mandatory membership is to ensure that disputes between letting agents, tenants and landlords, or estate agents, buyers and sellers, can be better resolved using such third party oversight. 

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Typical complaints include lack of explanation, delays, rudeness and/or providing misleading information.

The PRS deals with approximately 2000 complaints from tenants, landlords, property buyers and sellers each year and in 2021 awarded nearly £500,000 in compensation to those who had complaints upheld.

The current PRS Advisory Council was set up to advise the Head of Redress - well known Lettings Industry figure Sean Hooker - and refer him to matters of consideration such as new or modified laws or forthcoming government policies as they relate to the industry. The Advisory Council also scrutinises Hooker’s work and ensures the scheme’s impartiality. 

Now, the Property Redress Scheme is announcing what it calls ”a significant change” to the membership of its Advisory Council to improve governance and accountability. 

It will now be called the Property Redress Scheme Advisory Panel and it is inviting applications “to promote a genuinely authentic outlook and attitude across all areas of the property spectrum and to ensure that the PRS itself takes a balanced and knowledgeable view in its vision and in all of its policy decisions.”

The areas of representation that the PRS are seeking experts from are Holiday lets; House purchasers; Inventories; Landlords; Leaseholders; Property Education; Property Sourcing; Rent-to-rent; Residential Leasehold Management professional; and Tenants, as well as lettings and sales professionals.

Head of Redress Sean Hooker says: “Our intention is to invigorate and to democratise the private rental sector through the active participation of sector experts. Traditionally, advisory boards are made up of individuals with big names, often justifiably so. 

“However, our new approach to attracting Advisory Panel members is to focus on a much broader and more diverse membership whereby we will select based upon genuine knowledge, experience and likely contribution to innovating and improving property redress, regardless of public profile”.

It is anticipated that the Property Redress Scheme Advisory Panel will convene twice annually, once in person and once virtually. Applicants are invited to apply both as individuals or as nominees of a relevant sector organisation.  

The Advisory Panel terms of reference can be accessed here.

Interested parties can apply themselves or nominate a third party for Advisory Panel membership here.

Applications close on August 31.

Want to comment on this story? If so...if any post is considered to victimise, harass, degrade or intimidate an individual or group of individuals on any basis, then the post may be deleted and the individual immediately banned from posting in future.

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    At least landlords are one of the 11 categories of experts they're looking for. It doesn't really explain how much expertise an expert is supposed to have but as tenants and homeowners are 2 of the other categories maybe they really are looking for grassroots experience not just the big players.

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    Agreed. 👍 Time for Landlords to step and join the Advisory scheme.
    This is an excellent opportunity for PRS LL’s (who use letting agents) to represent & influence the policies on behalf of good LL’s.
    Best wishes.

     
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    Jo, we are the grass roots they must think we are even greener than the grass. The people behind the Redress Scheme (another Stress scheme for landlords) were planning this in collusion with Government behind the scenes through the Pandemic. Holding meetings and offering free membership to Landlords to get them to Register to get the Roller Coaster off the ground. Then they’ll get it into law and the Charges start making another money stream to make the millions off Landlords backs just like the disgraceful Deposit Schemes, they learned well and mainly by Organisations that are supposed to be helping landlords also have enlisted under their wing anyone that might previously have been a help for landlords. They talk about Professionalism they are full of that what they mean is more red tape, endless bureaucracy and haven’t a clue about the real world or property. Don’t worry we are now getting invites to Council / landlords meetings and they’ll tell us about the lovely Schemes being yet again forced upon landlords.

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    Absolutely right, Michael. We don't get any say about the creation of these schemes and therefore have no way of pointing out the drawbacks of their existence.

     
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    Michael - they're having a Redress Scheme anyway, regardless of what anyone thinks or wants. We have to live with whatever is put in place.
    This article was about recruiting a cross section of people to the Advisory Council panel of the Property Redress Scheme. So all the different players who are impacted by whatever the Redress Scheme does have had the opportunity for some input into policy rather than being completely excluded as usual. Whether it will make any difference is debatable. At least they have acknowledged they need to seek a wider range of experience and opinions than has previously been the case.
    The one sector they really need to consult with are people working in Local Authority housing departments. Not managers, just frontline staff. They have day to day first hand experience of dealing with people who are made homeless because of ill conceived policies.

     
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    The problem with all the "reforms" is that they are predicated upon the mistake that there is a need for a shift in power from landlord to tenant.

    The reality is that once you have let your flat to someone, the tenant has virtually all the power in the relationship.

    It is the current vulnerability of the landlord which is making so many withdraw from the market before their position is weakened even further.

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    The opportunity is there for taking as a LL advisor on the Property Redress Scheme Advisory Panel.
    Joining the panel will provide a channel to highlight and influence fair policies towards PRS LL’s.
    Best wishes.
    Best wishes.

     
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    When are they going to have enough rules, it’s more to do with computerisation than housing, just because they can sit there pressing buttons with no actual effort or input they keep making unnecessary rules at adverse laws.
    I see LL’s who reduced Rent to help Tenants in the Pandemic getting into a pickle over Deposits, they never seen the 5 weeks Deposit in many cases its locked up in a ponzu scheme. However the fact they reduced the rent means they are now operating illegally as Deposit is now more than 5 weeks rent.

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    Bad laws, regulations and schemes come into existence because you have ignorant and inexperienced people in the position to make suggestions and changes who have no idea what letting property really involves - and the circumstances which can come into being when a property is let.

    They don't have their money invested in the properties either.

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    This is what I’m hoping. The government want us out, that’s pretty clear, they will make things tougher and tougher until most of us pack up and move on - those of us that are left, are there to be fleeced.

    However, the government are hopelessly inept, and haven’t sufficiently lined up what our replacements would be - and some point the penny will drop, even with the public at large and tenants, that the rental shortage is down to the government - and then they’ll be demanding something is done, and maybe just maybe, the government will have the bright idea to incentivise landlords as a means of increasing availability and bringing prices down. But things will have to get a lot worse before that sort of common sense will break through.

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    And yet the Corporates including John Lewis, Lloyds, Legal & General, London Housing schemes (Khan/Labour/Liberal MP’s/their families & associates bring the private investors) and many more are the alternative versions of small fish PRS LL’s.
    These corporations have OPM to fight off/change planning rules including building in green belt zones, they receive high value subsidies from local councils to central govts (regardless of political party) therefore can build & maintain rental homes at cheap costs due to bulk procure power and spend thousands on tenant evictions if required.
    PRS LL is not a profitable or low stress business and yet foreign investors have pooled over £90.7bn in U.K. BTL (source PropertyInvestorToday).

    PRS LL’s need to join the Advisory team referred in the article to try and influence fair policies towards PRS landlords.
    Best wishes.

     
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    A Bhalia- what the government also don’t seem to have cottoned on to yet, is that the corporate players, are only interested in the premium market. Mid range and below is where most of the PRS is, and the corporates aren’t even interested in that market. So once we’re all kicked out, there will be almost nobody plugging the gap.

     
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    I'm afraid the government is not inept at all. It's a form of obfuscation so they can manipulate people into damaging themselves, and thereby enriching their supporters.

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    No govt is ever good at being everything to everyone - especially during a war type scenario.

    This govt has done a great job of delivering what people voted for, steering U.K. out of a worldwide pandemic 😷 a germ 🦠 warfare successfully, implementing border controls despite activists supporting illegals and creating favourable worldwide Trade agreements independently without being ruled by EU bureaucrats.
    PRS LL’s have now got an opportunity to join the Redress scheme and they should apply for it to start influencing policies for fairness towards good PRS LL’s.

    It’s no use complaining about govts but not putting self forward to lead when an opportunity arises.
    Taking an active role, continue leading despite setbacks, objections, activists, backstabbers etc. is required to make positive changes for everything in life, including in govts & by PRS LL’s
    Best wishes to PRS LL’s applying for an Advisory role. They will succeed in being the leading Changemakers to create fair policies to balance laws for supporting landlords.🙏


     
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