Do letting and estate agents need a complaints procedure, and what must it contain?

In England, the legal position is different for letting agents, estate agents, RICS-regulated firms, social landlords and self-managing private landlords. The sharp distinction is that England usually gets to complaints procedures through redress-scheme or regulator rules, while Scotland gives letting agents a direct statutory written-procedure duty.

Is it a legal requirement to have a complaints procedure?

In England, the 2014 redress-scheme Order applies “in relation to England only”, and it legally requires letting agents and property managers to join an approved redress scheme, while the written complaints procedure usually comes from the scheme or regulator rules rather than the statute itself. For lettings agency work, the Order says: “A person who engages in lettings agency work must be a member of a redress scheme for dealing with complaints in connection with that work.” For a TPO member, that makes complaint handling a scheme-regulated obligation in practice: membership alone is not enough if the Code requires a documented procedure staff can actually use. RICS-regulated firms must publish a complaints-handling procedure and keep a complaints log. Scotland is stricter for letting agents: “You must have a clear written complaints procedure…” Northern Ireland has no equivalent letting-agent redress law, and membership is voluntary rather than a statutory requirement.

What should a complaints procedure include?

A letting-agent complaints procedure should be written, easy to find, explain how to complain to the business and then to the Ombudsman, set out the stages and timescales, and be capable of inspection by the redress scheme. The Property Ombudsman Code for residential letting agents says: “Such procedures must be in writing; explain how to complain to your business and to the Ombudsman; be readily available in each office and on your website; and be available for inspection by both the Ombudsman and/or TPO Limited.” For Scotland, the legal minimum is more explicit about structure: “It must include the series of steps that a complaint may go through, with reasonable timescales linked to those set out in your agreed terms of business.” For a repair complaint heading toward TPO, the internal process should therefore show acknowledgement, investigation, a stage-one response, an internal review or stage two, the outcome, any remedy, and escalation rights.

How long do you have to respond to a stage two complaint?

A TPO letting-agent stage-two review must be sent within 15 working days, not the 20 working days often quoted for the Housing Ombudsman’s separate social-landlord process. The Property Ombudsman Code says: “Such a review must be sent to the Complainant within 15 working days.” The 20-working-day figure belongs to social landlords under the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code, which says: “Landlords must issue a final response to the stage 2 within 20 working days of the complaint being acknowledged.” Scotland’s public-sector and registered-social-landlord model procedure also uses day 20: “We should respond in full to the complaint by day 20, at the latest.” For a letting or property-management agent in England using TPO’s residential lettings Code, the useful answer is therefore 15 working days for the internal stage-two review, with Ombudsman escalation after the scheme’s own rules are exhausted.

What is the RICS complaints handling procedure?

The RICS complaints handling procedure is a firm’s published CHP: it must include an RICS-approved ADR provider and the firm must maintain a complaints log. RICS Rules of Conduct state: “Firms must publish a complaints-handling procedure, which includes an alternative dispute resolution provider approved by RICS, and maintain a complaints log.” RICS’s own example presents the usual shape as two stages: the complaint is first made to the firm, and if unresolved it is signposted to an approved ADR or ombudsman route. RICS describes this as “a clear, two-stage process identified for making a complaint”. Its example also uses ten working days as a typical full-response target, but that is an example rather than a statutory deadline. The Ombudsman route can open eight weeks after the complaint was first made to the firm: “The Ombudsman can accept a complaint eight weeks after the complaint is made to you.”

When should you tell your PI insurer about a complaint?

A RICS firm should tell its PI insurer in writing as soon as reasonably practicable when it receives a claim, a notice of an intention to claim, or learns that an ombudsman is reviewing a case affecting the firm. The RICS minimum UK professional indemnity wording says: “If during the POLICY PERIOD the INSURED shall receive any CLAIM, or any notice of an intention to make a CLAIM, the INSURED shall give written notice to INSURERS as soon as reasonably practicable.” It also makes ombudsman-review notification a condition precedent to cover: “The INSURED shall as a condition precedent to its right to indemnity… give written notice to INSURERS as soon as reasonably practicable after becoming aware that a case directly affecting the INSURED is being reviewed by any ombudsman.” No UK statute fixes a universal PI-notification deadline; for RICS firms, the operative rule is the policy wording, so late notification can become a cover problem.

Last reviewed August 2026.

Sources

• The Redress Schemes for Lettings Agency Work and Property Management Work (Requirement to Belong to a Scheme etc) (England) Order 2014, article 1 — “This Order applies in relation to England only.” Source
• The Redress Schemes for Lettings Agency Work and Property Management Work (Requirement to Belong to a Scheme etc) (England) Order 2014, article 3 — “A person who engages in lettings agency work must be a member of a redress scheme for dealing with complaints in connection with that work.” Source
• The Letting Agent Code of Practice (Scotland) Regulations 2016 — “You must have a clear written complaints procedure that states how to complain to your business and, as a minimum, make it available on request.” Source
• The Letting Agent Code of Practice (Scotland) Regulations 2016 — “It must include the series of steps that a complaint may go through, with reasonable timescales linked to those set out in your agreed terms of business.” Source
• Housing Rights, Regulation of letting agents — “Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom without a dedicated regulatory framework for rental agents.” Source
• The Property Ombudsman Code of Practice for Residential Letting Agents, England, updated 1 May 2026 — “Such procedures must be in writing; explain how to complain to your business and to the Ombudsman; be readily available in each office and on your website; and be available for inspection by both the Ombudsman and/or TPO Limited.” Source
• The Property Ombudsman Code of Practice for Residential Letting Agents, England, updated 1 May 2026 — “Such a review must be sent to the Complainant within 15 working days.” Source
• Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code 2024 — “Since April 2024, the Complaint Handling Code has been statutory.” Source
• Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code 2024 PDF — “Landlords must have a single policy in place for dealing with complaints covered by this Code.” Source
• Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code 2024 PDF — “Landlords must issue a final response to the stage 2 within 20 working days of the complaint being acknowledged.” Source
• Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, Registered Social Landlords Model Complaints Handling Procedure — “We should respond in full to the complaint by day 20, at the latest.” Source
• RICS Rules of Conduct 2021 — “Firms must publish a complaints-handling procedure, which includes an alternative dispute resolution provider approved by RICS, and maintain a complaints log.” Source
• RICS, Complaints handling — “On the CHP, there is a clear, two-stage process identified for making a complaint, including clear signposting to:” Source
• RICS, Complaints handling — “The firm explains that it should be in a position to respond to his complaint in full within ten working days and that, if this is not possible, it will let him know.” Source
• RICS, Complaints handling guidance, October 2023 — “The Ombudsman can accept a complaint eight weeks after the complaint is made to you.” Source
• RICS Professional Indemnity Insurance Wording 2021 UK — “If during the POLICY PERIOD the INSURED shall receive any CLAIM, or any notice of an intention to make a CLAIM, the INSURED shall give written notice to INSURERS as soon as reasonably practicable.” Source
• RICS Professional Indemnity Insurance Wording 2021 UK — “The INSURED shall as a condition precedent to its right to indemnity under clause 2 of Section A give written notice to INSURERS as soon as reasonably practicable after becoming aware that a case directly affecting the INSURED is being reviewed by any ombudsman.” Source