The Government has announced a new Housing Complaint Resolution Service for the entire housing market. The service is designed to provide protection for homeowners and tenants by creating a single point of resolution for unresolved disputes relating to repairs and maintenance.
Private landlords will be required to become members of the new resolution scheme. Failure to do so could leave them facing a fine of up to £5,000. Social landlords are not required to become members of this scheme.
Property developers will be required to become members of a New Home Ombudsman in new legislation to be implemented later this year. Developers will have to be a part of this scheme if they want to participate in the Government’s Help to Buy scheme.
Further details on these new schemes can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/james-brokenshire-announces-overhaul-of-broken-housing-complaints-system.
These new resolution schemes are just one of the measures forming part of the Government’s response to the consultation “strengthening consumer redress in the housing market.”