Using a member Estate Agent to buy or sell your home
All estate agents are required to register with an Estate Agents Redress Scheme that has been approved by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and which investigates complaints against estate agents. The Property Ombudsman (TPO) is one of the schemes approved by the OFT.
Many estate agents have in addition voluntarily agreed to follow the TPO Code of Practice for Residential Estate Agents, approved by the OFT under its Consumer Codes Approval Scheme. Estate agents signing up to this Code of Practice are required to provide additional consumer protection that goes beyond that required by law. They can be recognised by the joint TPO/OFT approved code logos which they display. Registered agents, who do not voluntarily accept the Code of Practice obligations of the TPO Scheme, are not entitled to show the OFT approved code logo.
What does The Property Ombudsman do?
The Property Ombudsman provides a free, fair and independent service for dealing with unresolved disputes between the TPO Scheme registered agents and those who are buying or selling or potentially buying or selling residential property in the UK. The Ombudsman is a member of the British and Irish Ombudsman Association and follows the standards and rules of the Association. The Ombudsman is totally independent of estate agents and reports directly to the TPO Council, which has a majority of non-industry members.
See the TPO Website for further details.
