Redress for complaints against Estate Agents

All estate agents in the UK who engage in residential estate agency work are required by order to belong to an approved redress scheme dealing with complaints about the buying and selling of residential property (including Home Information Packs). The Estate Agents (Redress Scheme) Order 2008 came into force on 1 October 2008.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has approved the following bodies to run estate agents redress schemes under the Estate Agents Act 1979:

• The Ombudsman for Estate Agents

• The Surveyors Ombudsman Service

The OFT is currently considering one other application to run a redress scheme. Details are available on the OFT web-site: http://www.oft.gov.uk/advice_and_resources/resource_base/EARS

Estate agents that fail to join an approved scheme are subject to a £1,000 penalty charge, which can be repeated if necessary, and will ultimately be banned from carrying out estate agency work if they refuse to sign up.

© Crown copyright2008