The Property Ombudsman Bewertungen 

Like most of the reviewers here I had a terrible time with TPO. Do you know they have one of the lowest scores of all business in the UK? I wonder why? Are we all unreasonable?

So bad was my experience with them that they made my experience with the Agents rather mild by comparison. I shall not give too much away and I did not want to tell them my plans. Suffice it to say that treating anyone unfairly by misapplying rules, ignoring statutes etc is always a bad idea… especially when there is no scrutiny of your organisation and no regular recourse for victims of such barbaric behaviour…

They behave as they do because they can, no generally accepted protocols are observed … The notion they can actually act professionally is a joke... They are not professionals, they are unqualified, spiteful creatures. For example, no matter how serious your case can be dropped if you make a phone call or send too many emails… In any normal company these rules wold fall under the Unfair Terms Act and be unenforceable... the TPO, who by the way take 7 months to register your complainant and think you unreasonable if you complain about that. It truly is a circus.

Watch an upcoming publication.. It is to be entitled 'TPO and Me' and shall contain names, dates and original emails.

These people need t be made accountable... If they do not understand statutes for the protection of consumers and refuse to implement them... what is the point of this Estate Agents trade a association....?

As they are entirely funded by the agents they are supposed to control... what else are they? Turkeys seldom vote for Christmas.

If you are unhappy contact your local MP or the HLIndustryRegulators at parliament.uk . Parliament have several bodies looking into this abomination and the more emails they get from us, telling our stories... the sooner Estate Agents and their apologists in the TPO will be properly regulated.

That is

HLIndustryRegulators at parliament.uk

At what point will the staff at TPO grow a little self respect and stop copy and pasting the same reply to every single complainant? Is THAT taking us seriously or treating us fairly?

They don't even care how utterly implausible they sound, coz no one can appeal or complain.

" we're sorry you're unhappy with the service you've received. Please contact us if you have any further questions, and we will do our best to help. Thank you"

There is a very clear reason why The Property Ombudsman (TPO) sits at a miserable 1.3-star rating on Trustpilot. They are not a genuine avenue for justice; they are an administrative gatekeeping exercise designed to close cases as quickly as possible for their own convenience.

My experience proved that TPO staff do not listen to consumers. When my complaint was handled, staff completely mischaracterized the core issue, ignored critical evidence of an agent's statutory default, and misapplied their own jurisdictional rules. When I provided written clarifications, they were ignored.

The worst part of this scheme is the deliberate "Catch-22" loophole they have engineered to avoid accountability:

If you tell the Resolution Team they made a mistake or ignored evidence, they block you by saying their decision is final.

If you then use the Service Complaint route to report that staff failed to follow their own mandatory processes and Terms of Reference, the Administration Team immediately rejects it by re-labeling those process failures as unreviewable "substantive decisions."

By operating this broken loop, TPO has insulated itself from its own service standards. They can broker settlements with agents behind your back without your involvement, rubber-stamp "reviews" of complex evidence in under 24 hours, and then completely refuse to look at their own staff's mistakes.

If you think this ombudsman is there to protect consumers and uphold fairness, save your time and energy. They are toothless, bureaucratic, and entirely unfit for purpose. Reject any insulting "goodwill" gestures they offer and take your case straight to the First-tier Tribunal or legal channels where actual rules apply.

Appalling. I have no idea why this entity even exists. They side purely with the big businesses that scam small people and work in their favour only. Our agent cost us thousands of pounds in losses and stole from us but this ombudsman favoured that they had done nothing wrong.a complete waste of time then they end up sending responses saying to contact them for any further help. Do not entertain them

I’ve waited patiently for nearly 7 to hear back from someone with regards to my letting agent complaint only to now be given a 3 day deadline to provide all the information once more for the third time. The system is completely broken and I guess they have zero intention in helping me in the first place. Feel seriously let down they were my only hope.

I used this scheme to complain about a managing agent and found the process disappointing.

The Ombudsman identified service failings and made a small compensation award. However, the key issues I raised were never meaningfully addressed. The focus appeared to be on whether the agent's communication met expected standards rather than whether the underlying concerns were properly investigated.

I provided extensive documentary evidence, including correspondence and supporting documents, yet several points were either dismissed as not affecting the outcome or treated as outside the scope of the review.

I was particularly surprised that the process did not operate in the way many people would expect from an independent adjudication service. It felt more like a review of complaint handling than a detailed examination of the substance of the dispute.

Leaseholders considering this route should carefully understand its limitations before investing significant time and effort. In my case, after many months of correspondence, I did not feel the process provided meaningful resolution.

NOthing but delays - Should be ZERO stars
Non profit organisation or not is there excuse for a waste of space lengthy delay 6 MONTHS started this year on a case. Still not been assigned ‼️
Dont write with your customer service email.Makes no difference.
You bunch of Phonies and Cronies😡

Funded by its members - that tells you everything that you need to know.

Although they claim to be independent, they appear disappointingly biased towards their fee-paying members. They do not take an objective view of any complaints against those who fund them. They ask for lots of information, and then even more information, but simply ignore any evidence that they do not want to acknowledge.

The over-long, repetitive emails from TPO take months to arrive and are, quite frankly, not worth the wait.

Unfortunately this organisation does not provide the fair, equitable service that it claims. Taking a ridiculous amount of time to deliver disingenuous 'resolutions' appears to be the norm, as the overwhelming number of one star reviews confirms.

★☆☆☆☆

My experience with The Property Ombudsman was extremely disappointing.

I complained as a landlord about serious failings by my managing agent, Leaders Estate Agents, including an unsafe boiler cabinet installation that obstructed a boiler flue and caused a gas safety inspection failure. At the same time, a smoke detector that I had paid to have replaced was allowed to expire without being replaced, potentially leaving my tenants at risk.

Despite the seriousness of these issues, I found the Ombudsman process to be slow, bureaucratic and largely ineffective. It took over six months to receive a decision, and throughout the process I felt that important evidence was either overlooked or not given proper weight.

My complaint also included concerns about maintenance works being carried out without my authorisation, records apparently being altered or misrepresented to suggest approval had been given, and a disputed £2,900 exit fee that did not appear anywhere in my signed contracts or the terms and conditions supplied to me.

I entered the process expecting an independent investigation of the evidence. Instead, I was disappointed to find that many of the concerns I raised appeared to be dismissed or accepted at face value in favour of the agent's position, despite the documentary evidence I had provided. The result was a process that felt more concerned with procedure than with establishing the facts and holding the agent accountable for its actions.

The process required a substantial investment of my time, effort and energy, yet provided very little confidence that the facts had been thoroughly examined. The experience was so poor that I have since written to my Member of Parliament to raise concerns about the effectiveness and accountability of the Property Ombudsman scheme.

While other people's experiences may differ, my own view is that I would likely have been better served pursuing the matter through the courts rather than relying on the Ombudsman process.

Overall, I found the service excessively slow, overly bureaucratic and ineffective at providing meaningful redress for serious complaints.

really poor.
Slow communication and was clearly not impartial.
How can anyone support First Port who provide no customer service.

i claimed 3000 euro not paid back to me by andalucia4you. Then this corrupt organization picked up the claim, and awarded me my 3000 euro plus costs; then because their decision mail went to my spam folder; i received a mail saying the 14 days to respond were over and they would not pay me the 3000 euro owed me. Obviously these are maffia tricks, anyhwere in the world when you are owed money and been awarded money you receive it. Not with this crooked organization.Disgraceful and misleading

Waste of time. They string you along for months and do absolutely nothing, my landlord has broken so many laws and the only way to get them to be held accountable now is to report them formally to the council and also take on a court case. This company organisation are biased and simple exist just to protect the landlord & put a load of misleading jargon on their website. Don’t bother take the legal route like the rest of the reviews.

TPO Case Reference: 121006/TPO

My experience with the TPO process was deeply disappointing and, ultimately, of very limited practical value despite the enormous amount of time, evidence, and emotional energy required.

The process lasted around six months and involved extensive submissions, supporting evidence, representations, and detailed chronology. Despite this, the final outcome appeared heavily focused on protecting what was technically permissible for the agent and landlord rather than properly addressing fairness, consumer expectations, or the real-world impact on the tenant.

In my case, key aspects of the chronology and disruption were acknowledged, including admitted errors by the agent, yet no compensation was awarded.

What I found most frustrating was the apparent imbalance within the process. As a consumer, it often felt as though the burden placed on complainants was extremely high, while the explanations provided by the agent were given considerable weight even where the overall sequence of events raised obvious concerns.

I appreciate that Ombudsman schemes must remain impartial, but my experience left me with very little confidence that the process meaningfully levels the playing field between tenants and professional estate agencies.

By the end of the process, I was left feeling that I had invested six months pursuing accountability through a system that, in practice, offered very limited consumer protection or practical resolution.

Others considering the process should manage expectations carefully and consider obtaining independent legal advice early, including whether the Small Claims Court may provide a more effective route for resolving disputes involving financial loss and poor tenancy handling.

UPDATE- MAY 14, 2026.

Thank you for your response.

I am extremely disappointed by both the outcome and the overall handling of this process. After months of detailed submissions, documentary evidence, representations, and acknowledged tenancy management errors, the process ultimately felt weighted in favour of protecting the position of the agent and landlord rather than delivering meaningful consumer protection or accountability.

While the decision repeatedly relied on what was technically permissible, very limited weight appeared to be given to fairness, consumer reliance, avoidable disruption, or the practical impact the events had on me as a tenant during a period of documented vulnerability.

The experience left me with very little confidence that the scheme provides an effective or balanced route for consumers seeking fair resolution in tenancy disputes involving professional letting agencies.

I’m struggling to understand what the point of this organisation is? They’re completely useless, incompetent and never actually address complaint points. Their emails are incredibly long, make no sense and hiding behind T&C’s. Save yourself the hassle and don’t bother with this organisation as it’s a complete waste of time!

Wow, I should have checked Trustpilot before I bothered. I contacted the ombudsman over Rosetree my service provider who had used a section 20 to steal £350 from 24 owners and not provide the gates they had promised or a refund, was told I needed a final outcome from RT before I could submit a complaint. RT have sent a joint letter to all the owners, but will not give individual outcomes to the complainants as they obviously know without it we cannot go to the ombudsman. So basically any complaint you take up with your service provider cannot be escalated to the ombudsman as long as your service provider ignores you. What a joke these people are.

A fantastic service! I pulled out of a sale in August 2025 due to important material information not being disclosed by the estate agents, after complaining to their in house complaints department I felt like I was left with nowhere to turn and I was out of pocket by nearly £1k, a friend suggested I raise my complaint with The Property Ombudsman and I’m so glad I did. I did have a long wait however my expectations were managed early on with an email stating there would be a delay and I wasn’t in any hurry so this didn’t bother me. It took 6/7 months but I finally got my money back from the estate agents that failed to disclose non standard construction, Elinor Iles was very understanding when I misread an email and the report issued was fair and took into consideration both sides of the complaint. If you have a genuine complaint and have the time, I would 100% recommend The Property Ombudsman and can’t thank them enough!

They get paid by the companies to make a decision on their behalf!

do not use this company, they are paid by the member and even though they see failure they will take no action. Consider legal action against all these companies to get justice.
You will waste 6 - 9 months of your life trying to get answers from these companies who are not there for justice and fairness.

I submitted my complaint with full supporting evidence, including the agent’s substantive written response. TPO’s assessment team declined to proceed on the basis that the response did not carry the exact phrase “Final Viewpoint Letter” - a label not strictly required by their own Terms of Reference. The instruction was to start the entire process from scratch.

The same email pre-judged the substance of the complaint, asserting that the agent could not be at fault because their role was limited to rent collection. That is a question for the Ombudsman to determine on evidence, not for the assessment team to dispose of in a templated rejection.

This is a process that exists to filter complainants out, not to resolve disputes. Independent in name. Procedural attrition in practice. Consumers expecting impartial redress should set their expectations accordingly.

Does not understand the law and exists to protect its members, i.e. estate agents

Following the apalling service I received from TPO with my complaint, I have decided to help with the huge number of others, who are, much as myself - deeply disappointed, dissatisfied and frustrated by the inactive, lack of support and incompetence of TPO.

Please do as I have done, remain strong and continuous in bringing this to the attention of your Trading Standards. Complain to CTSI, highlight the areas and failures of the Property Ombudsman, as they are part of the Alternative Dispute Resolution service that the CTSI oversee and regulate.

Take this up with your local MP as I did, who has made a written complaint to the Secretary of State for Housing - Steve Reed OBE. Mr Reed's PA has replied to assure me that they will investigate.

We all have to be a part of bringing far more light and attention to this total pile of cr@p, that is evidently unfit for purpose.

Make a NOISE!!