All letting and managing agents in England must belong to a Redress Scheme since 1 October 2014.
However, Ombudsman Services has previously announced that they are ceasing to be a redress scheme for the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013, which requires membership by agents.
The date they will be ceasing is 6 August 2018. Therefore, any letting or managing agent in England who belongs to this scheme must join one of the other two schemes before this date to ensure that they comply with the requirement to belong to a redress scheme.
The other two schemes are:
If you are a landlord using an agent who is a member of Ombudsman Services, it may be worth checking with your agent that they are aware and will be a member of one of the other redress schemes by 6 August 2018.
By law, agents must prominently display who they are a member of in their office and on their website (if they have a website).
