The PRS Landlord Ombudsman: what it is, and who has to join

In England, the PRS Landlord Ombudsman is planned for private rented homes, but it is not yet operating and landlords cannot join it yet. The key point is timing: mandatory membership is expected in 2028, not immediately.

What is the PRS Landlord Ombudsman?

The PRS Landlord Ombudsman is the planned private landlord redress scheme for England, intended to give tenants an independent route for complaints against private landlords of assured or Rent Act tenancies that are not social housing. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 uses the legal term landlord redress scheme rather than treating the Ombudsman as a live body today: section 64 says, “The Secretary of State may make regulations requiring a residential landlord to be a member of a landlord redress scheme.” The Act’s notes say the policy is one sector scheme: “The intention is that the government will approve or designate only one scheme to act as Ombudsman for the sector.” Until that scheme is approved or designated, the Private Rented Sector Ombudsman scheme remains a future system, not a complaints body tenants can already use against ordinary private landlords.

Do landlords have to join the ombudsman?

Private landlords in England do not have to join the PRS Landlord Ombudsman yet, but all private landlords with assured or regulated tenancies are expected to have to join when the membership regulations are made, including landlords who use a managing agent. Government guidance says, “The government will introduce a new Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman Service, which all private landlords in England with assured or regulated tenancies will be required by law to join, including those who use a managing agent.” The duty is England-only for a dwelling in England that is not social housing: section 63 defines residential landlord as “the landlord under a relevant tenancy of a dwelling in England that is not social housing.” Wales has no equivalent landlord duty, although Rent Smart Wales requires licensed agents to maintain approved agent redress membership; Scotland uses the First-tier Tribunal for private renting disputes; Northern Ireland has no equivalent private-landlord ombudsman duty.

Can you join the PRS Landlord Ombudsman yet, and when does it start?

Nobody can join the PRS Landlord Ombudsman yet, and mandatory membership is expected in 2028 despite earlier wording saying the service would start as soon as possible after Royal Assent. The later MHCLG roadmap is the clearest timetable: “Stage 2 will require landlords to be members of the new service – we expect this to be in 2028, when the Secretary of State is confident the service is ready for delivery.” The Housing Ombudsman’s voluntary membership page is not a back-door application for the PRS scheme; it says, “It is not an application for the new PRS Landlord Ombudsman,” and also says, “The government has not yet decided which organisation will run the new Private Rented Sector (PRS) Landlord Ombudsman.” A tenant who wants to take a pet-refusal dispute to the landlord ombudsman therefore cannot use the new PRS scheme yet.

What will the landlord ombudsman cost?

The PRS Landlord Ombudsman fee has not been set, although government expects a fair charging model and has modelled a central estimate of £6.03 per property per year. The roadmap says, “Landlords will be required to fund the service through a fair and proportionate charging model, confirmed closer to launch.” The Renters’ Rights Act itself creates the power to require membership, but it does not name a pound figure: section 64 says, “The Secretary of State may make regulations requiring a residential landlord to be a member of a landlord redress scheme.” The 2024 impact assessment is only modelling, not a tariff, but it gives the best published number: “The cost modelling assumes that this fee is £6.03 per property owned per annum in the central scenario (£4.42 and £13.25 in the lower and higher scenarios, respectively).” The £7,000 figure is a civil-penalty cap for breach, not the membership fee.

Is the Housing Ombudsman the same scheme, and what does it charge?

The Housing Ombudsman is not the same scheme as the new PRS Landlord Ombudsman, and its current 2026-27 fee is £9.64 per unit for its own scheme. The Housing Act 1996 scheme is for complaints against social landlords: section 51 refers to “complaints against social landlords investigated by a housing ombudsman in accordance with a scheme approved by the Secretary of State.” The Housing Ombudsman’s own voluntary membership page makes the separation explicit for private landlords: “It is not an application for the new PRS Landlord Ombudsman.” Its current fee is published separately from the future PRS landlord charge: “Our current membership fee for 2026-27 is £9.64 per unit.” Government has indicated the Housing Ombudsman may be well placed to run PRS redress, but no appointment is final; the Housing Ombudsman says, “The government has not yet decided which organisation will run the new Private Rented Sector (PRS) Landlord Ombudsman.”

What can the new ombudsman do that the letting agent redress schemes cannot?

The new PRS Landlord Ombudsman is designed to bind landlords themselves, including landlords who use agents, while existing letting-agent redress duties normally sit on the agent and not on the landlord as landlord. The 2014 agent-redress 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,” but the government’s agent guidance explains the gap: “Landlords are not explicitly excluded from the requirement but are not generally caught by the definitions given above as they are not acting on instructions from another party.” The PRS scheme is meant to close that gap because “all private landlords in England with assured or regulated tenancies will be required by law to join, including those who use a managing agent.” The Act also allows regulations for accepted determinations to be enforced like court orders, but those enforcement regulations have not yet been made.

Does a rent-to-rent operator have to join a redress scheme?

A rent-to-rent operator in England is clearly caught by letting-agent redress only if it is doing lettings agency work, because the 2014 duty applies to “a person who engages in lettings agency work,” not automatically to every business that manages occupation of a property. The best distinction is whether the operator is acting on instructions for another person, because government guidance says landlords “are not generally caught by the definitions given above as they are not acting on instructions from another party.” A rent-to-rent operator who takes a lease from the owner and then grants occupation in its own right may look more like a landlord than an agent for the owner, but the confirmed England rule does not provide a special rent-to-rent category. When the PRS Landlord Ombudsman duty starts, it is expected to apply to private landlords with assured or regulated tenancies in England, but the scheme is not open yet.

How do you resolve a dispute between a landlord and a tenant?

A private landlord and tenant dispute in England is resolved first through direct complaint and negotiation, then through the relevant existing route such as court, tribunal, council enforcement or an existing ombudsman only where that body has jurisdiction; the new PRS Landlord Ombudsman is not yet available. The Housing Ombudsman currently says, “There is currently no Ombudsman to investigate complaints from residents of private landlords,” unless the landlord has joined its separate voluntary scheme. For now, that means a tenant cannot take an ordinary private-landlord complaint to the future PRS Landlord Ombudsman, even if the complaint concerns repairs, conduct, communication or a refusal to allow a pet. Once the new scheme begins, it is intended to give tenants a private rented sector redress route against landlords themselves, including landlords who use managing agents, but until then the correct route depends on the issue and the legal power being used.

Last reviewed August 2026.

Sources

• Renters’ Rights Act 2025, section 63 — “residential landlord” means the landlord under a relevant tenancy of a dwelling in England that is not social housing; Source
• Renters’ Rights Act 2025, section 64 — “The Secretary of State may make regulations requiring a residential landlord to be a member of a landlord redress scheme.” Source
• Renters’ Rights Act 2025 explanatory notes — “The intention is that the government will approve or designate only one scheme to act as Ombudsman for the sector.” Source
• GOV.UK, Guide to the Renters’ Rights Act — “The government will introduce a new Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman Service, which all private landlords in England with assured or regulated tenancies will be required by law to join, including those who use a managing agent.” Source
• MHCLG, Renters’ Rights Act 2025 implementation roadmap — “Stage 2 will require landlords to be members of the new service – we expect this to be in 2028, when the Secretary of State is confident the service is ready for delivery.” Source
• Housing Ombudsman, voluntary membership — “It is not an application for the new PRS Landlord Ombudsman.” Source
• Housing Ombudsman, voluntary membership — “The government has not yet decided which organisation will run the new Private Rented Sector (PRS) Landlord Ombudsman.” Source
• Housing Ombudsman, help if your landlord is not registered — “There is currently no Ombudsman to investigate complaints from residents of private landlords.” Source
• MHCLG, Renters’ Rights Bill impact assessment — “The cost modelling assumes that this fee is £6.03 per property owned per annum in the central scenario (£4.42 and £13.25 in the lower and higher scenarios, respectively).” Source
• Renters’ Rights Act 2025, section 66 — “(a)£7,000, if it is imposed under subsection (1)(a), or” Source
• Housing Act 1996, section 51 — “The provisions of Schedule 2 have effect for the purpose of enabling tenants and other individuals to have complaints against social landlords investigated by a housing ombudsman in accordance with a scheme approved by the Secretary of State.” Source
• Housing Ombudsman membership — “Our current membership fee for 2026-27 is £9.64 per unit.” Source
• 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
• GOV.UK, lettings agents and property managers redress schemes guidance — “Landlords are not explicitly excluded from the requirement but are not generally caught by the definitions given above as they are not acting on instructions from another party.” Source
• Renters’ Rights Act 2025, section 68 — “The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision for, or in connection with, authorising the administrator of a landlord redress scheme to apply to a court or tribunal for an order that a determination made under the scheme and accepted by the complainant in question be enforced as if it were an order of a court.” Source
• Rent Smart Wales, agent licence conditions — “The agent is required to obtain and maintain throughout the period of their licence membership to an independent letting and management redress scheme (as approved by Rent Smart Wales).” Source
• Scottish Government, private renting dispute resolution — “Determinations of rent or repair issues in private sector housing as well as assistance in exercising a landlord's right of entry are dealt with by the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber).” Source
• Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman — “We investigate unresolved complaints about public bodies in Northern Ireland.” Source