Letting agents urged to improve complaints procedures
Letting Agents - 04/08/2006 11:17:37
The number one grievance among private tenants is the way landlords handle their complaints, it has been revealed.
A report by the housing ombudsman shows that the ombudsman service, of which all registered social landlords in England are members, received a record total of 5,205 complaints last year.
Some 16.5 per cent of these complaints were about the manner in which landlords and letting agents had dealt with disputes.
In his 2006 annual report, housing ombudsman Dr Mike Biles said: "It is understandable that tenants will feel frustrated when they identify shortcomings in their landlords' performance and, using the internal procedures to complain, the problems are made worse by the poor administration of the process."
He said that actually dealing with the problem in question is not enough and letting agents must take steps to improve how they actually handle the complaints.
After complaint handling, 15 per cent of problems lodged with the housing ombudsman were about repairs, 14.8 per cent were about anti social behaviour and 10 per cent were about rents or service charges.
If you're thinking of moving home, click here to find letting agents in your area.